Orthodontic YouTube™ videos made by patients for patients: What are they about and are they accurate?

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the characteristics and content of YouTube™ videos created by patients undergoing orthodontic fixed appliance treatment and to assess the content accuracy of these videos.

Design: A mixed-methods quantitative and qualitative study.

Data source: YouTube™ webpage.

Methods: The term 'braces' was used to search for relevant videos on the YouTube™ webpage between 18 August and 30 August 2020, with no limits imposed regarding how long the video had been available on YouTube™. Videos were included if they were made by patients and were predominantly about patients' experiences during treatment with labial fixed appliances. The main themes/subthemes of the included videos were identified. A checklist was then developed to assess accuracy of the video content for two of the main themes and the videos were assessed against the checklist.

Results: The video search identified 350 videos, of which 64 were selected as potentially eligible; 41 were subsequently excluded as they related primarily to the bond up/debond experience or had minimal information about orthodontics. This meant that 23 videos were ultimately included for analysis. Six main themes were identified in the videos: problems with fixed appliances, effects of fixed appliances, oral hygiene maintenance, dietary advice, treatment duration/appointment frequency and auxiliaries used with fixed appliances. From the 23 videos, 20 were assessed against the checklist for content accuracy related to two selected themes: oral hygiene maintenance and dietary advice. The majority of videos had low content accuracy scores, indicating that important and relevant content was generally missing.

Conclusion: Several included videos focused on oral hygiene maintenance and dietary advice associated with fixed appliances; however, the content was incomplete and not always accurate. This is concerning to the profession, and it is therefore recommended that clinicians consider collaborating with patients to produce videos that are patient-centred and that also contain accurate information.