Scrolling for Success: Social Media as a Supplementary Resource in Endodontic Education

There is growing reliance on digital platforms for education. Today's dental students seek online resources to support clinical learning. The impact of these platforms in endodontic education remains underexplored. This study evaluated social media preferences of predoctoral dental students at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine for supplementing their endodontic education. A survey was distributed to third- and fourth-year dental students (n = 467) assessing usage of institutional and external resources, perceived preparedness for clinical procedures, and frequency of fact-checking supplemental content. 94 students responded (20.1%). YouTube was the most commonly used non-curricular resource (77.7%), with significantly higher usage among third-year students (85.5%) compared to fourth-years (66.7%; p = 0.031). Only 41.5% of students reported fact-checking external content. A significant proportion of dental students rely on external resources to supplement their endodontic education. These findings highlight the need for educators to develop evidence-based multimedia resources to enhance clinical preparedness in endodontics.