Is Online Patient-Centered Information About Implant Bone Graft Valid?

Area of Science:

• Dentistry
• Medical Informatics
• Health Communication

Background:

• Dental implants are a common tooth replacement method.
• Bone grafting is frequently required for dental implant procedures.
• Assessing online patient information on implant bone grafts is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the quality of online patient-centered information regarding dental implant bone grafts.
• To assess the readability of this online health information.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study analyzed 900 websites found via Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
• Website quality was assessed using DISCERN, JAMA, and HON code criteria.
• Readability was measured using Flesch reading-ease score (FRES), Flesch-Kincaid grade level, and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook.

Main Results:

• 161 websites were included; 40.4% were from universities/medical centers.
• Moderate quality (DISCERN) was found in 50.9% of websites.
• Readability was predominantly "fair difficult" (39.8%) or "standard" (34.8%) via FRES.
• Only 2.5% of websites were HON code certified.

Conclusions:

• Patient-centered online information on implant bone grafts is generally of low quality and difficult to comprehend.
• There is a significant need for trustworthy, high-quality online resources for dental implant bone graft information.