ArticleBMC oral health2023
Evaluation of Internet users' interest in paediatric dental problems during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in BMC oral health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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0 citing papers in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic had a significant impact on dental care providers; patients had trouble accessing routine dental care due to concerns about dentist and patient safety. People spent more time at home due to lockdown restrictions and a growth in individuals working from home. This increased the likelihood of looking for dental care information on the Internet. In the present study the aim was to compare the trends of Internet searches about paediatric dentistry before and after the pandemic.
methodsThe monthly variation in relative search volume (RSV) and the lists of paediatric dentistry-related queries were determined from December 2016 to December 2021 using Google Trends. Two separate datasets were obtained before and after the pandemic. One-way ANOVA was used to determine whether there was a significant difference in RSV scores between the first 2 years of COVID-19 and the first 3 years before COVID-19. T-tests were used for bivariate comparisons.
resultsThere was a statistically significant increase in queries regarding dental emergencies, especially toothache (p < 0.01) and dental trauma (p < 0.05). The RSV of paediatric dentistry queries increased over time (p < 0.05). Other queries about recommended dental procedures during the pandemic, such as the Hall technique and stainless steel crowns, showed an increasing trend. However, these were not statistically significant (p > 0.05).
conclusionsMore searches were carried out, related to dental emergencies, on the Internet during the pandemic. Moreover, non-aerosol generating procedures such as the Hall technique became increasingly popular according to the frequency of searches carried out.
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