Evaluating the Educational Quality of Inferior Alveolar Nerve Repositioning Videos Using A Novel Technical Assessment...

This study aims to analyze the educational quality and technical accuracy of YouTube videos regarding inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) lateralization and transposition surgeries and to evaluate the reliability of critical surgical steps using a novel 'Modified IAN-Surgical Technical Index'.

A comprehensive search was conducted on YouTube on December 6, 2025, using four distinct keyword groups. From an initial pool of 200 videos (the first 50 results per keyword), 32 videos meeting the inclusion criteria were included in the final analysis. The videos were evaluated by two independent researchers using the JAMA Benchmark Criteria, the Global Quality Scale (GQS) and the Modified IAN-Surgical Technical Index. Additionally, the videos were categorized based on surgical technique, source type and educational quality.

A total of 32 videos were analysed. No statistically significant difference in quality was observed between lateralization (n = 18) and transposition (n = 14) videos (p > 0.05). Videos with a GQS score of ≥ 3 received significantly higher user interaction in terms of view and like counts (p < 0.05). Regarding technical steps, 'Foramen Isolation' (p = 0.031) and 'Active Retraction' (p = 0.014) were significantly more prevalent in high-quality videos. Notably, the use of grafting/barriers was significantly more common in academic sources compared to commercial sources (p = 0.039).

YouTube videos regarding IAN surgery demonstrate a heterogeneous distribution in terms of both general educational quality and technical accuracy. However, within this specific surgical field, high-quality educational materials garner significantly higher user interaction. The results indicate that modified indices incorporating procedure-specific technical steps are more effective than general quality scales for the analysis of surgical videos.