Readability and Quality Assessment of Web-Based Information Concerning Post-Endodontic Treatment Selection

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to unbiasedly identify the quality and readability of the written information about post-endodontic coronal restorations on Turkish websites using accepted formulas and scales by the literature. Methods: The study was carried out by setting national pages and national locations in the Google search engine. The terms "root canal treatment and veneer" and "root canal treatment and filling" were used as keywords. The webpages were assessed independently by two readability formulas (Flesh-Kincaid and Ateşman systems) and DISCERN quality kit. The independent statistical and correlation analysis were performed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Shapiro-Wilk, Spearman's rho, and Dunn's tests. The significance level was taken as p<0.05. Results: The initial search identified 60 websites, of which eight were excluded due to non-compliance with the study criteria (n=52). According to the DISCERN score, the web pages were categorized as fair with the highest rate of 57.69%. A statistically significant positive correlation was found between Ateşman Readability Index and the Flesh-Kincaid Reading Ease score (r=0.998; p<0.001). There was no statistically significant correlation between Ateşman Readability Index and DISCERN score (p=0.259). Ateşman reading ease scores of the web pages are evaluated, 80.76% of these are classified as moderately difficult. Conclusions: The readability distribution of the written information about post-endodontic coronal restorations on websites was acceptable to the majority. However, being readable does not indicate that it provides sufficient target technical information. In this context, it can be suggested to use readability and quality scales while preparing websites for dental patient education concerning post-endodontic coronal restorations.