Public interest in Invisalign in developed and developing countries: A Google Trends analysis

Area of Science:

• Dental technology and orthodontics
• Digital health trends
• Public health informatics

Background:

• Public interest in orthodontic treatments like Invisalign has been growing globally.
• Understanding search trends provides insights into patient engagement and market dynamics.
• Previous research has not comprehensively analyzed long-term Invisalign search volumes across diverse countries.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze long-term trends in Google search volumes for Invisalign.
• To identify seasonal variations in online interest for Invisalign.
• To compare search trends between developed and developing countries.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study utilizing Google Trends data.
• Analysis of Relative Search Volume (RSV) for 'Invisalign' from 2004 to 2021.
• Inclusion of 10 countries representing diverse socioeconomic criteria.
• Time series decomposition to identify trends and seasonality.

Main Results:

• Significant overall increase in Invisalign-related searches across all studied countries.
• Developed countries consistently showed higher search volumes than developing countries.
• No clear monthly or quarterly patterns were observed, but similar trend fluctuations occurred within country groupings.
• Seasonal search patterns were identified, correlating with the academic calendar.

Conclusions:

• Public online interest in Invisalign has substantially increased worldwide.
• Seasonal fluctuations in search interest for Invisalign appear linked to academic schedules.
• These findings have implications for practice management and professional development in orthodontics.