Effect of social media on patient’s awareness of orthodontic treatment

Effect of social media on patient’s awareness of orthodontic treatment | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Effect of social media on patient’s awareness of orthodontic treatment Azin Sanei, Fatemeh Sadat Asgarian, Mahtab Ebrahiminezhad This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8080200/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 21 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background The lack of studies and sometimes conflicting results in this field, has required that this study be conducted with the aim of improving treatment results in dental health care system. Methods The present study was conducted with the cooperation of 300 orthodontic patients. Participants were asked to answer the questionnaire consisted of 13 questions, about their use of internet and social media in their orthodontic treatments. After collecting data, statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS version 16 software. Results In the current study, More than half of the participants, used 1–3 hours of their time daily to use the Internet. 69.3% of the population used Instagram to get information. 67.7% of people believed that social networks did not have a direct impact on their decisions about orthodontic treatment. The most searched topics were related to the quality of treatment. 73% of the people participating in the study believed that social networks have improved their knowledge about orthodontics. Conclusion To receive information related to orthodontics and search about their treatment, patients referred to social networks with a significant percentage, which increased their knowledge but did not affect their decision making in orthodontic treatment. social media orthodontic trearment Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Background In the past, devices such as telephone, television, and newspapers played an important role in transmitting information among people 1 , the Internet is an inseparable part of people's daily lives 2 – 4 . Social networks are a type of communication that people can use to quickly share thoughts, information, feelings, and other content, and recently, it has expanded a lot among people 5 , 6 . Social networks improve the use of various services and products 7 , 8 and have created a great revolution in communication between people through Internet networks 9 , 10 . Among social networks, we can mention Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, etc., whose use has increased significantly in the last decade 11 – 14 .One of the most widespread networks among them is Instagram, which is the most preferred social network among younger age group 8 , 15 . In addition to people's daily life, social networks are also used in different professions, like health care 16 . Among people who own a smartphone, almost 50% use at least one health-related program 17 . The Internet can play an effective role in the transfer of medical information, communication between patients and their health care 18 , 19 . Also, creating effective communication with patients and informing them correctly is one of the important goals of health care systems 20 , 21 . Many people use social networks to share dental experiences, including oral hygiene and dental treatments 22 . Receiving correct information by patients is very important for dentists, especially orthodontists 23 , since the cooperation and awareness of patients and their behaviors related to oral and dental hygiene in orthodontic treatments have a great impact on the success of the treatment 24 . According to studies in 2019, it was found that there are 305 programs related to orthodontics, 241 of which are designed with the aim of direct communication with the patient, and their focus is on things such as, orthodontic devices, types of orthognathic surgeries, reminders of elastic and aligner placement, dealing with Orthodontic emergencies 17 , 18 , 25 – 27 . Research shows that social networks can measure the impact of orthodontic treatments on people's daily lives, and the most negative reactions on social networks are related to their dissatisfaction with the use of retainers 11 , 20 . The results of some studies indicate that increasing patients' awareness of the treatment process does not necessarily change their behavior and increase their cooperation 5 . Also, acceptance of treatment by patients is not necessarily related to their previous knowledge and awarenes 28 . Another benefit of social networks for orthodontists is the increase in patients' visits to them in the future. According to studies, pictures before and after treatment have had the greatest impact on patients' eyes and their decision to undergo orthodontic treatment. The use of digital dentistry will soon be inevitable and dentists and especially orthodontists will be forced to use digital technology and social networks 29 . Due to the fact that in orthodontic patients, the age of abnormality treatment is very important, knowing the impact of social networks can be effective in the quality of orthodontic dental treatments 5 , 24 . The lack and sometimes inconsistency of the results in the field of communication between social networks and orthodontic patients and the lack of these studies in Iran has required that this study be conducted with the aim of investigating the impact of social networks on patients' awareness of orthodontic treatment. Methods The present study is a descriptive analytical study that was conducted during the year of 2023 with the cooperation of 300 orthodontic patients in Kashan city. Considering Z = 1.96, P = 0.05 and standard error 0.5 with 95% confidence factor and the following formula, the sample size of 300 people was calculated. $$\:n=\frac{{z}^{2}pq}{{d}^{2}}$$ After approving the project and receiving the ethics code (ID: IR.KAUMS.MEDNT.REC.1402.029) from the university ethics committee, the study was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the Kashan university of medical sciences research committee and the Declaration of Helsinki, Participation was voluntary, and completing the questionnaire implied informed consent. the data were collected using a standard questionnaire belonging to the study "The influence of social networks on patients' decisions about orthodontic treatment" written by Al-Gunaid et al in 2021 1 . Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Participation was entirely voluntary, and anonymity and confidentiality were assured. The inclusion criteria for the study were: 1- Patients 13 years old and older and parents of patients under 13 years old who are undergoing orthodontic treatment. 2- The ability to answer the questions of the questionnaire 3- The satisfaction of participating in the study. Exclusion criteria are: 1- Not using social media sites 2- History of previous orthodontic treatment 3- Skull and face syndrome 4- Patients who had low mental abilities. The questionnaire generally consisted of 13 questions, which were allowed to be translated and localized after correspondence with the author. Due to the lack of conducting a similar study and the use of this questionnaire for the first time in Iran, there was a need to localize it and determine its validity and reliability. In the main questionnaire, Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram programs were mentioned as social networks; During the localization process, we replaced social networks that had more Iranian users (Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, Ita and Telegram) and were used more daily. To determine the reliability of the research tool, it was distributed among 30 people, 2 times with an interval of 2 weeks, and Cronbach's alpha was calculated. In order to determine face validity, the questionnaire was given to 3 experts. After the questionnaire was completed by the target group, face validity was checked. In the content validity review, 3 epidemiology and dentistry experts were asked to express their revised opinion in writing after carefully studying the tool. In terms of content validity, compliance with grammar, use of appropriate words, importance of questions and placement of questions in the right place at the time of completion were taken into consideration. The questionnaire included 5 questions about patients' demographic information, and other questions were also included in the questionnaire with the aim of measuring the impact of social networks on patients' awareness of orthodontics. Quantitative variables were calculated with mean and standard deviation and qualitative variables were calculated with percentage and frequency. Data analysis was done with the help of SPSS version 16 software. Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to investigate the relationship between average daily hours of internet use and patients' knowledge. A significance level of P < 0.05 was considered. Results In the current study, which is a descriptive study, 300 patients aged 13 years and older and parents of patients under 13 years of age who are undergoing orthodontic treatment participated, and their age range was around 21–30 years. 219 people (73%) of this population were women and 81 people (27%) were men (Table 1 ). Table 1 Demographic characteristics of study participants variables number (T = 300) percentage Age 21–30 years Sex Female 219 73 Male 81 27 Education Less than diploma 101 33/7 Diploma 81 27 Bachelor's degree 71 23/7 Master's degree 21 7 PhD or higher 26 8/7 Income Less than 181 dollars per month 253 84/3 181–363 dollars per month 38 12/7 363–545 dollars per month 4 1/3 545–727 dollars per month 2 0/7 More than 727 dollars per month 3 1 The highest number of education statistics was related to less than diploma education, which included 33.7% of the population and was in accordance with the age group of the studied patients. In the income section, the highest percentage obtained in all the participants belonged to less than 10 million Tomans per month (84.3%). Also, the highest percentage among people over 18 years old was related to less than 10 million Tomans (77.5%) (Table 1 ). Due to the existence of an age limit in filling out the questionnaire (persons aged 13 years and older had to fill in the questionnaires by the individual and those under the age of 13 years were responsible for their parents), it was asked whether the person himself or his child was under treatment in the questionnaire, which was the most 82% of the people were treated by themselves (Table 2 ). Table 2 Have you or your child undergone orthodontic treatment? Question number (T = 300) percentage Have you or your child undergone orthodontic treatment? My self 246 82 My child 54 18 According to the results, more than half of the people (55.3%) devoted 1–3 hours of their time daily to using the Internet (Table 3 ). Table 3 Daily internet usage hours Question number (T = 300) percentage How many hours per day do you use the internet? 1–3 hours 166 55.3 4–6 hours 90 30 > 6 hours 44 14.7 According to the Fig. 1 , The most used source by the studied people to get information related to orthodontics was the Instagram social network, which 69.3% of the population used to get their information (Fig. 1 ). 67.7% of people believed that social networks did not have a direct impact on their decisions about orthodontic treatment (Table 4 ). Table 4 The direct impact of social networks on deciding about orthodontic treatment Question number (T = 300) percentage Did social media have a direct impact on your decision toward orthodontic treatment? Yes 97 32.3 No 203 67.7 According to the data collected with the questionnaire, the most searched topics related to the treatment of people were related to the quality of treatment, which accounted for 51.7% (Fig. 2). Related topics of treatments in socialmedia 59% of people did not compare their condition and treatment process with other patient (Table 5 ). Table 5 Comparison of the conditi on and treatment process with the rest of the patients Question number (T = 300) percentage Do you use social media to compare your condition and treatment progress with those of other people? Yes 123 41 No 177 59 92% of the studied people had not participated in online groups to receive information or inquire about orthodontics (Table 6 ). Table 6 Receiving information or inquiries about orthodontics in online groups Question number (T = 300) percentage Have you ever participated or joined online dental or orthodontic groups to get information or ask about orthodontics? Yes 24 8 No 276 92 74% of people believed that searching on social networks is important before receiving orthodontic treatment (Table 7 ). Table 7 The importance of searching in social networks before receiving orthodontic treatment Question number (T = 300) percentage Do you think it is important to search social media before seeking orthodontic treatment? Yes 222 74 No 78 26 According to the results obtained from the questionnaire, 73% of the people participating in the study believed that social networks have improved their knowledge about orthodontics (Table 8 ). Table 8 Improving knowledge about orthodontics by social networks Question number (T = 300) percentage Do you feel that social media make your knowledge about orthodontic better? Yes 219 73 No 81 27 Discussion Previous studies have shown that the internet and social networks offer a wealth of information on orthodontics 23 . A similar study conducted by Siddiqui et al in 2022 found that the most common reason for searching online was for information related to the results of orthodontic treatment, the type of appliance used, and information about the treatment process. The most commonly used social networks were Instagram and Snapchat, which aligns with the findings of our study. In both studies, patients found social networks to be useful for finding information on orthodontics, although some expressed concerns about the reliability of the information available. Nonetheless, a majority of participants in both studies expressed interest in using social networks to support their orthodontic treatment in the future, with many preferring to access information on Instagram and Snapchat 2 . In 2021, Al-Gunaid et al. completing their previous study, designed a questionnaire to measure the impact of social networks on patients' decisions about orthodontic treatment. About 44.6% of the studied people used the Internet 4–6 hours a day. While in our study, most people used the Internet between 1–3 hours a day. According to the results, the most used social networks were, respectively, Snapchat, Instagram and WhatsApp, which had differences with our research, which was due to the fact that Snapchat was not widespread in Iran and its removal and replacement with other programs in the localization process. The most searched topic by 44/6 of the participants was the quality of treatment, which was consistent with the findings in our research. Contrary to expectations, finally 58.9% of patients stated that social networks do not play a role in their decision making about orthodontic treatment, confirmed by our study. this study also indicated that social networks play a more prominent role in women's decision-making 1 . In 2021, Al-Gunaid et al. conducted a descriptive study in Saudi Arabia. In all virtual networks in question (Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp, and Telegram) except Twitter, women had significantly more activity in the field related to orthodontics. In our study, most of the participants were women, which can indicate the desire of more women to undergo orthodontic treatment. The most social networks used were Snapchat, Instagram and WhatsApp respectively, despite our study, which, as it was said, could be due to the abundance of visual information in this program, the connection between seeing images and receiving orthodontic information, and the lack of popularity of the Snapchat program in Iran 8 . Al-Moghrabi et al. in 2021 reviewed randomized and non-randomized clinical trial studies regarding interventions related to social networks. it was concluded that there is very little to moderate evidence to support the impact of social networks on the behavior of orthodontic patients and increasing the awareness of patients using Social networks, which are possible with a high impact, do not lead to a change in their behavior. More quality studies are required to determine the definitive impact of programs on changing patients behavior 24 . In their cross-sectional study in England and Brazil 2021, Sampson and colleagues found that patients who were informed about orthodontic treatments with relevant social networks, were more likely to accept their treatment. Also, in this study, it was found that with the increase of patients' awareness, their anxiety towards the treatments decreases and their satisfaction towards the treatment increases 28 . In 2019 in London, Mohammad Owaise Sharif and colleagues conducted a study using a questionnaire. They concluded that current patient awareness of the availability of apps is poor, despite findings that 87% of patients reported being willing to use an app to assist with orthodontic treatment. In our study, similar to this study, patients use the Internet and social networks to search for topics such as (respectively) the quality of treatment, the treatment process and the cost of treatment 17 . In 2015, Al-Silwadi and his colleagues designed an RCT study in England. it was found that providing audiovisual information through social networks, including YouTube, to orthodontic patients can have a significant effect on increasing their awareness, which was confirmed by the patients themselves in our research, and the most used social network by patients in the research was Instagram 21 , just as our study. Conclusion patients referred to social networks with a significant percentage to receive information related to orthodontics and search about their treatment, which increased their knowledge but did not affect their decision making in orthodontic treatment. No relationship was observed between the hours of using the Internet and increasing the awareness of the studied patients. Declarations This project was aproved and received the code of ethics with ID IR.KAUMS.MEDNT.REC.1402.029 from the ethics committee. Consent for publication: Availability of data and materials: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests Funding: There were no fundings in the study Authors' contributions: There were no contributions in the study Acknowledgements: Not applicable Clinical trial number: Not applicable Consent for publication: Not applicable References Al-Gunaid T, Ibrahim A, Alhazmi K, Aljohani A, Eshky R, Althagafi N. 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Social networks are a type of communication that people can use to quickly share thoughts, information, feelings, and other content, and recently, it has expanded a lot among people \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. Social networks improve the use of various services and products \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e and have created a great revolution in communication between people through Internet networks \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAmong social networks, we can mention Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, etc., whose use has increased significantly in the last decade \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR12 CR13\" citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e .One of the most widespread networks among them is Instagram, which is the most preferred social network among younger age group \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. In addition to people's daily life, social networks are also used in different professions, like health care\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. Among people who own a smartphone, almost 50% use at least one health-related program\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. The Internet can play an effective role in the transfer of medical information, communication between patients and their health care\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. Also, creating effective communication with patients and informing them correctly is one of the important goals of health care systems \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. Many people use social networks to share dental experiences, including oral hygiene and dental treatments\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReceiving correct information by patients is very important for dentists, especially orthodontists\u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e, since the cooperation and awareness of patients and their behaviors related to oral and dental hygiene in orthodontic treatments have a great impact on the success of the treatment \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAccording to studies in 2019, it was found that there are 305 programs related to orthodontics, 241 of which are designed with the aim of direct communication with the patient, and their focus is on things such as, orthodontic devices, types of orthognathic surgeries, reminders of elastic and aligner placement, dealing with Orthodontic emergencies \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR26\" citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eResearch shows that social networks can measure the impact of orthodontic treatments on people's daily lives, and the most negative reactions on social networks are related to their dissatisfaction with the use of retainers \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe results of some studies indicate that increasing patients' awareness of the treatment process does not necessarily change their behavior and increase their cooperation \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAlso, acceptance of treatment by patients is not necessarily related to their previous knowledge and awarenes \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e28\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAnother benefit of social networks for orthodontists is the increase in patients' visits to them in the future. According to studies, pictures before and after treatment have had the greatest impact on patients' eyes and their decision to undergo orthodontic treatment. The use of digital dentistry will soon be inevitable and dentists and especially orthodontists will be forced to use digital technology and social networks \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e29\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDue to the fact that in orthodontic patients, the age of abnormality treatment is very important, knowing the impact of social networks can be effective in the quality of orthodontic dental treatments \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e,\u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. The lack and sometimes inconsistency of the results in the field of communication between social networks and orthodontic patients and the lack of these studies in Iran has required that this study be conducted with the aim of investigating the impact of social networks on patients' awareness of orthodontic treatment.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Methods","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe present study is a descriptive analytical study that was conducted during the year of 2023 with the cooperation of 300 orthodontic patients in Kashan city. Considering Z\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1.96, P\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.05 and standard error 0.5 with 95% confidence factor and the following formula, the sample size of 300 people was calculated.\u003cdiv id=\"Equa\" class=\"Equation\"\u003e\u003cdiv format=\"TEX\" class=\"mathdisplay\" id=\"FileID_Equa\" name=\"EquationSource\"\u003e\n$$\\:n=\\frac{{z}^{2}pq}{{d}^{2}}$$\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e After approving the project and receiving the ethics code (ID: IR.KAUMS.MEDNT.REC.1402.029) from the university ethics committee, the study was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the Kashan university of medical sciences research committee and the Declaration of Helsinki, Participation was voluntary, and completing the questionnaire implied informed consent. the data were collected using a standard questionnaire belonging to the study \"The influence of social networks on patients' decisions about orthodontic treatment\" written by Al-Gunaid et al in 2021\u003csup\u003e1\u003c/sup\u003e. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Participation was entirely voluntary, and anonymity and confidentiality were assured. The inclusion criteria for the study were: 1- Patients 13 years old and older and parents of patients under 13 years old who are undergoing orthodontic treatment. 2- The ability to answer the questions of the questionnaire 3- The \u003cspan type=\"Underline\" class=\"Underline\" name=\"Emphasis\"\u003esatisfaction\u003c/span\u003e of participating in the study. Exclusion criteria are: 1- Not using social media sites 2- History of previous orthodontic treatment 3- Skull and face syndrome 4- Patients who had low mental abilities.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe questionnaire generally consisted of 13 questions, which were allowed to be translated and localized after correspondence with the author. Due to the lack of conducting a similar study and the use of this questionnaire for the first time in Iran, there was a need to localize it and determine its validity and reliability. In the main questionnaire, Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram programs were mentioned as social networks; During the localization process, we replaced social networks that had more Iranian users (Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, Ita and Telegram) and were used more daily.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo determine the reliability of the research tool, it was distributed among 30 people, 2 times with an interval of 2 weeks, and Cronbach's alpha was calculated. In order to determine face validity, the questionnaire was given to 3 experts. After the questionnaire was completed by the target group, face validity was checked. In the content validity review, 3 epidemiology and dentistry experts were asked to express their revised opinion in writing after carefully studying the tool. In terms of content validity, compliance with grammar, use of appropriate words, importance of questions and placement of questions in the right place at the time of completion were taken into consideration. The questionnaire included 5 questions about patients' demographic information, and other questions were also included in the questionnaire with the aim of measuring the impact of social networks on patients' awareness of orthodontics.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eQuantitative variables were calculated with mean and standard deviation and qualitative variables were calculated with percentage and frequency. Data analysis was done with the help of SPSS version 16 software. Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to investigate the relationship between average daily hours of internet use and patients' knowledge. A significance level of P\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05 was considered.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn the current study, which is a descriptive study, 300 patients aged 13 years and older and parents of patients under 13 years of age who are undergoing orthodontic treatment participated, and their age range was around 21\u0026ndash;30 years. 219 people (73%) of this population were women and 81 people (27%) were men (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDemographic characteristics of study participants\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003evariables\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003enumber (T\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;300)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003epercentage\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAge\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21\u0026ndash;30 years\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"4\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSex\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFemale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e219\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e73\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e81\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e27\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"4\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEducation\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLess than diploma\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e101\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e33/7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDiploma\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e81\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e27\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBachelor's degree\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e71\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e23/7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMaster's degree\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePhD or higher\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8/7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"4\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eIncome\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLess than 181 dollars per month\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e253\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e84/3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e181\u0026ndash;363 dollars per month\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e38\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12/7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e363\u0026ndash;545 dollars per month\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1/3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e545\u0026ndash;727 dollars per month\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0/7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMore than 727 dollars per month\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe highest number of education statistics was related to less than diploma education, which included 33.7% of the population and was in accordance with the age group of the studied patients.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn the income section, the highest percentage obtained in all the participants belonged to less than 10\u0026nbsp;million Tomans per month (84.3%). Also, the highest percentage among people over 18 years old was related to less than 10\u0026nbsp;million Tomans (77.5%) (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDue to the existence of an age limit in filling out the questionnaire (persons aged 13 years and older had to fill in the questionnaires by the individual and those under the age of 13 years were responsible for their parents), it was asked whether the person himself or his child was under treatment in the questionnaire, which was the most 82% of the people were treated by themselves (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHave you or your child undergone orthodontic treatment?\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"3\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eQuestion\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003enumber (T\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;300)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003epercentage\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHave you or your child undergone orthodontic treatment?\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMy self\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e246\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e82\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMy child\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e54\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAccording to the results, more than half of the people (55.3%) devoted 1\u0026ndash;3 hours of their time daily to using the Internet (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDaily internet usage hours\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"3\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eQuestion\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003enumber (T\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;300)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003epercentage\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHow many hours per day do you use the internet?\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u0026ndash;3 hours\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e166\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e55.3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u0026ndash;6 hours\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e90\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e30\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;6 hours\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e44\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14.7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAccording to the Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e, The most used source by the studied people to get information related to orthodontics was the Instagram social network, which 69.3% of the population used to get their information (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e67.7% of people believed that social networks did not have a direct impact on their decisions about orthodontic treatment (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe direct impact of social networks on deciding about orthodontic treatment\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"3\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eQuestion\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003enumber (T\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;300)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003epercentage\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDid social media have a direct impact on your decision toward orthodontic treatment?\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e97\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32.3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e203\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e67.7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAccording to the data collected with the questionnaire, the most searched topics related to the treatment of people were related to the quality of treatment, which accounted for 51.7% (Fig.\u0026nbsp;2).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRelated topics of treatments in socialmedia\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e59% of people did not compare their condition and treatment process with other patient (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab5\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 5\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eComparison of the conditi on and treatment process with the rest of the patients\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"3\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eQuestion\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003enumber (T\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;300)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003epercentage\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDo you use social media to compare your condition and treatment progress with those of other people?\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e123\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e41\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e177\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e59\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e92% of the studied people had not participated in online groups to receive information or inquire about orthodontics (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab6\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 6\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eReceiving information or inquiries about orthodontics in online groups\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"3\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eQuestion\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003enumber (T\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;300)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003epercentage\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHave you ever participated or joined online dental or orthodontic groups to get information or ask about orthodontics?\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e24\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e276\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e92\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e74% of people believed that searching on social networks is important before receiving orthodontic treatment (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab7\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab7\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 7\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe importance of searching in social networks before receiving orthodontic treatment\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eQuestion\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003enumber (T\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;300)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003epercentage\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"4\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDo you think it is important to search social media before seeking orthodontic treatment?\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e222\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e74\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e78\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAccording to the results obtained from the questionnaire, 73% of the people participating in the study believed that social networks have improved their knowledge about orthodontics (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab8\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab8\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 8\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eImproving knowledge about orthodontics by social networks\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eQuestion\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003enumber (T\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;300)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003epercentage\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"4\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDo you feel that social media make your knowledge about orthodontic better?\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e219\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e73\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e81\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e27\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003ePrevious studies have shown that the internet and social networks offer a wealth of information on orthodontics \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA similar study conducted by Siddiqui et al in 2022 found that the most common reason for searching online was for information related to the results of orthodontic treatment, the type of appliance used, and information about the treatment process. The most commonly used social networks were Instagram and Snapchat, which aligns with the findings of our study.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn both studies, patients found social networks to be useful for finding information on orthodontics, although some expressed concerns about the reliability of the information available. Nonetheless, a majority of participants in both studies expressed interest in using social networks to support their orthodontic treatment in the future, with many preferring to access information on Instagram and Snapchat \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn 2021, Al-Gunaid et al. completing their previous study, designed a questionnaire to measure the impact of social networks on patients' decisions about orthodontic treatment. About 44.6% of the studied people used the Internet 4\u0026ndash;6 hours a day. While in our study, most people used the Internet between 1\u0026ndash;3 hours a day. According to the results, the most used social networks were, respectively, Snapchat, Instagram and WhatsApp, which had differences with our research, which was due to the fact that Snapchat was not widespread in Iran and its removal and replacement with other programs in the localization process. The most searched topic by 44/6 of the participants was the quality of treatment, which was consistent with the findings in our research.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eContrary to expectations, finally 58.9% of patients stated that social networks do not play a role in their decision making about orthodontic treatment, confirmed by our study. this study also indicated that social networks play a more prominent role in women's decision-making \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn 2021, Al-Gunaid et al. conducted a descriptive study in Saudi Arabia. In all virtual networks in question (Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp, and Telegram) except Twitter, women had significantly more activity in the field related to orthodontics. In our study, most of the participants were women, which can indicate the desire of more women to undergo orthodontic treatment.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe most social networks used were Snapchat, Instagram and WhatsApp respectively, despite our study, which, as it was said, could be due to the abundance of visual information in this program, the connection between seeing images and receiving orthodontic information, and the lack of popularity of the Snapchat program in Iran \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAl-Moghrabi et al. in 2021 reviewed randomized and non-randomized clinical trial studies regarding interventions related to social networks. it was concluded that there is very little to moderate evidence to support the impact of social networks on the behavior of orthodontic patients and increasing the awareness of patients using Social networks, which are possible with a high impact, do not lead to a change in their behavior. More quality studies are required to determine the definitive impact of programs on changing patients behavior \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn their cross-sectional study in England and Brazil 2021, Sampson and colleagues found that patients who were informed about orthodontic treatments with relevant social networks, were more likely to accept their treatment. Also, in this study, it was found that with the increase of patients' awareness, their anxiety towards the treatments decreases and their satisfaction towards the treatment increases \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e28\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn 2019 in London, Mohammad Owaise Sharif and colleagues conducted a study using a questionnaire. They concluded that current patient awareness of the availability of apps is poor, despite findings that 87% of patients reported being willing to use an app to assist with orthodontic treatment.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn our study, similar to this study, patients use the Internet and social networks to search for topics such as (respectively) the quality of treatment, the treatment process and the cost of treatment \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn 2015, Al-Silwadi and his colleagues designed an RCT study in England. it was found that providing audiovisual information through social networks, including YouTube, to orthodontic patients can have a significant effect on increasing their awareness, which was confirmed by the patients themselves in our research, and the most used social network by patients in the research was Instagram \u003csup\u003e\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e, just as our study.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cul\u003e \u003cli\u003e \u003cp\u003epatients referred to social networks with a significant percentage to receive information related to orthodontics and search about their treatment, which increased their knowledge but did not affect their decision making in orthodontic treatment.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo relationship was observed between the hours of using the Internet and increasing the awareness of the studied patients.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/li\u003e \u003c/ul\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis project was aproved and received the code of ethics with ID IR.KAUMS.MEDNT.REC.1402.029 from the ethics committee.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConsent for publication:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAvailability of data and materials: Not applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCompeting interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFunding: There were no fundings in the study\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAuthors\u0026apos; contributions: There were no contributions in the study\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAcknowledgements: Not applicable\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eClinical trial number: Not applicable\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConsent for publication: Not applicable\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAl-Gunaid T, Ibrahim A, Alhazmi K, Aljohani A, Eshky R, Althagafi N. Impact of social media on patient\u0026rsquo;s decision-making toward orthodontic treatment. Saudi J Health Sci. 2021;10(2):132.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSiddiqui N, Chia M, Sharif MO. Social media and orthodontics: Are our patients scrolling? J Orthod. 2022;49(2):179\u0026ndash;84.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTom Frawley PSASAS. social media and orthodontics. orthodontic update. 2020;13.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOliver RG, Knapman YM. Attitudes to Orthodontic Treatment: https://doi.org/101179/bjo124179 [Internet]. 2019 Feb 5 [cited 2022 Aug 29];12(4):179\u0026ndash;88. Available from: \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/\" targettype=\"URL\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003e10.1179/bjo.12.4.179\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"10.1179/bjo.12.4.179\" targettype=\"DOI\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSinead O\u0026rsquo;Brien. Brett Duane. Delivery of information to orthodontic patients using social media. Evidence-Based Dentistry volume. 2017;18:59\u0026ndash;60.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSocial media use by orthodontic patients Report.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBarber SK, Lam Y, Hodge TM, Pavitt S. Is social media the way to empower patients to share their experiences of dental care? J Am Dent Assoc. 2018;149(6):451\u0026ndash;e4599.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAl-Gunaid TH, Aljohani AA, Alhazmi KM, Ibrahim AM. Determining the impact of orthodontic patients\u0026rsquo; characteristics on their usage and preferences of social media. J Taibah Univ Med Sci. 2021;16(1):16\u0026ndash;21.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNelson KL, Shroff B, Best AM, Lindauer SJ. Orthodontic marketing through social media networks: The patient and practitioner\u0026rsquo;s perspective. Angle Orthodontist. Volume 85. Allen Press Inc.; 2015. pp. 1035\u0026ndash;41.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJorgensen G. Attracting orthodontic patients via the Internet: A 20-year evolution. Am J Orthod Dentofac Orthop. 2015;148(6):939\u0026ndash;42.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMeade MJ, Dreyer CW. What\u0026rsquo;s in a hashtag: A content evaluation of Instagram posts related to orthodontic retention and retainers. J World Fed Orthod. 2021;10(1):35\u0026ndash;9.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSamani P, Dungarwalla M, Bailey E. #Wisdomteeth: an analysis of 100 social media posts and a survey on patient perception. Br Dent J. 2020;228(9):711\u0026ndash;6.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCox T, Park JH. Facebook marketing in contemporary orthodontic practice: A consumer report. J World Fed Orthod. 2014;3(2):e43\u0026ndash;7.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eReint M. Reynders1 2, 3 and Luisa Isaia3. Social media and orthodontics: A commentary on a systematic review. Evid \u0026ndash; based dentistry. 2019.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAlkadhimi A, AMD, ARD, WM. and FPS. The reach, influence and tenor of professional orthodontic societies on social media: A cross-sectional content analysis. Int Orthod. 2022;20(1).\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGraf I, Gerwing H, Hoefer K, Ehlebracht D, Christ H, Braumann B. Social media and orthodontics: A mixed-methods analysis of orthodontic-related posts on Twitter and Instagram. Am J Orthod Dentofac Orthop. 2020;158(2):221\u0026ndash;8.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSharif MO, Siddiqui NR, Hodges SJ. Patient awareness of orthodontic mobile phone apps. J Orthod. 2019.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBuyuk SK, Imamoglu T. Instagram as a social media tool about orthognathic surgery. Health Promot Perspect. 2019;9(4):319\u0026ndash;22.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKrebs P, Duncan DT. Health app use among US mobile phone owners: a national survey. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2015;3(4):e4924.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNoll D, Mahon B, Shroff B, Carrico C, Lindauer SJ. Twitter analysis of the orthodontic patient experience with braces vs Invisalign. Angle Orthod. 2017;87(3):377\u0026ndash;83.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAl-Silwadi FM, Gill DS, Petrie A, Cunningham SJ. Effect of social media in improving knowledge among patients having fixed appliance orthodontic treatment: A single-center randomized controlled trial. Am J Orthod Dentofac Orthop. 2015;148(2):231\u0026ndash;7.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHenzell MR, Knight AM, Morgaine KC, Antoun JS, Farella M. A qualitative analysis of orthodontic-related posts on Twitter. Angle Orthod. 2014;84(2):203\u0026ndash;7.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePapadimitriou A, Kakali L, Pazera P, Doulis I, Kloukos D. Social media and orthodontic treatment from the patient\u0026rsquo;s perspective: A systematic review. European Journal of Orthodontics. Volume 42. Oxford University Press; 2020. pp. 231\u0026ndash;41.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAl-Moghrabi D, AA, TA, PN. The influence of mobile applications and social media-based interventions in producing behavior change among orthodontic patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Orthod Dentofac Orthop. 2021;161(3):338\u0026ndash;54.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAl-Moghrabi D, Johal A, Fleming PS. What are people tweeting about orthodontic retention? A cross-sectional content analysis. Am J Orthod Dentofac Orthop. 2017;152(4):516\u0026ndash;22.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLam Y, Seehra J, Abela S, Cobourne MT. A cross-sectional study of exposure across social media platforms for the British Orthodontic Society retention awareness campaign: #HoldthatSmile. J Orthod. 2022;49(1):56\u0026ndash;63.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDharshini Prithiviraj 1 NRS 1, 1 RSS 1. MOS. The awareness and usage of orthodontic apps and social media by orthodontists in the UK: A questionnaire-based study. J Orthod. 2022.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSampson A, Figueiredo DSF, Jeremiah HG, Oliveira DD, Freitas LRP, Chahoud M, et al. The effect of social media on patient acceptance of temporary anchorage devices: A cross-cultural study. Angle Orthod. 2021;91(3):363\u0026ndash;70.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMeira TM, Prestes J, Gasparello GG, Antelo OM, Pithon MM, Tanaka OM. The effects of images posted to social media by orthodontists on public perception of professional credibility and willingness to become a client. Prog Orthod. 2021;22(1).\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-oral-health","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"ohea","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Oral Health](http://bmcoralhealth.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/ohea/default.aspx","title":"BMC Oral Health","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"social media, orthodontic trearment","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8080200/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8080200/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eBackground\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe lack of studies and sometimes conflicting results in this field, has required that this study be conducted with the aim of improving treatment results in dental health care system.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe present study was conducted with the cooperation of 300 orthodontic patients. Participants were asked to answer the questionnaire consisted of 13 questions, about their use of internet and social media in their orthodontic treatments. After collecting data, statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS version 16 software.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn the current study, More than half of the participants, used 1\u0026ndash;3 hours of their time daily to use the Internet. 69.3% of the population used Instagram to get information. 67.7% of people believed that social networks did not have a direct impact on their decisions about orthodontic treatment. The most searched topics were related to the quality of treatment. 73% of the people participating in the study believed that social networks have improved their knowledge about orthodontics.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusion\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo receive information related to orthodontics and search about their treatment, patients referred to social networks with a significant percentage, which increased their knowledge but did not affect their decision making in orthodontic treatment.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Effect of social media on patient’s awareness of orthodontic treatment","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-19 11:45:12","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8080200/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-04T17:19:35+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-02T09:01:05+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-02-28T12:03:19+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-02-28T04:43:43+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-02-25T20:59:45+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-02-25T00:55:04+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-02-24T09:55:03+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"208994841119421648994648620494106394244","date":"2026-02-24T06:27:15+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"145022849176706211791003229403513899683","date":"2026-02-24T05:27:03+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"245093091811814224590040238966911260542","date":"2026-02-23T11:14:11+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"154009421854000968612783915996613049167","date":"2026-02-20T13:48:30+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"60755468921150151909713347672676608006","date":"2026-02-19T12:15:34+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"239415436051227918782803817461247983417","date":"2026-02-18T13:04:48+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"114181189028163624368280617656014385305","date":"2026-02-16T15:49:31+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"282929683772374053719497841442944185285","date":"2026-02-16T14:35:15+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"220547229748116935628733080097623040251","date":"2026-02-16T12:57:33+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-02-16T12:30:38+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2026-01-21T16:16:39+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-12-08T11:47:08+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-12-05T11:37:26+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"BMC Oral Health","date":"2025-12-05T11:28:21+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-oral-health","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"ohea","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Oral Health](http://bmcoralhealth.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/ohea/default.aspx","title":"BMC Oral Health","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"a2b8cad1-24ed-4ec5-a127-1cca67590296","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 19th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-19T11:45:15+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-19 11:45:12","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8080200","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8080200","identity":"rs-8080200","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}