The Impact of Using Social Media on Dental Treatment: An Online Survey

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Social media is a mode of communication that allows a person to create and share information with others. Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Google+, YouTube etc are some examples of social media applications and they allow people to communicate across the world. There is very less literature available that shows the effect of social media in esthetics in India. AIM: To conduct an online survey to see the impact of using social media on esthetic dental treatments. MATERIALS AND METHOD: 477 questionnaires were returned with responses and the data was entered into the MS excel sheet. Descriptive statistics was used for the frequency distribution and Chi Square was applied for the statistical relationship between male and female variables (at 5% significance). RESULTS:  Four hundred seventy seven participants responded to this study through online forms. Most of the participants belonged to the age group of 26-35 years (n=256), followed by 18-25 years (n= 137), 36-45 years and > 45 years (n= 55 & 29 respectively). The response of females was high (63.5%) when compared to males. CONCLUSION: Females tend to follow dentists more as compare to males on social media. In dental practice, social media has become a widely used for exchanging and obtaining information.