Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39838400›Full record

ArticleBMC oral health2025

The impact of dental photography in social media platforms on patients' selection of dentists and type of treatment.

Yaser Nizar Alqabbani, Nawaf Khalid Alfhaed, Khaled Fawaz Almasaad, Rahaf Yahya Mahanshi, Faraz Farooqi, Khalifa S Al-Khalifa, Balgis Osman Gaffar

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC oral health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Observational
  5. Article
  6. Instagram Use by Dental Schools in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC): A Content and Engagement Analysis.Acta informatica medica : AIM : journal of the Society for Medical Informatics of Bosnia & Herzegovina : casopis Drustva za medicinsku informatiku BiH · 2025
    Article
  7. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Yaser Nizar AlqabbaniCollege of Dentistry, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Nawaf Khalid AlfhaedCollege of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Khaled Fawaz AlmasaadCollege of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Rahaf Yahya MahanshiCollege of Dentistry, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University For Health Sciences Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Faraz FarooqiDepartment of Dental Education, College of Dentistry, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisl University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Khalifa S Al-KhalifaDepartment of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisl University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Balgis Osman GaffarDepartment of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisl University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia. bgosman@iau.edu.sa.ORCID 0000-0001-7593-1887

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDental photography has many advantages such as improving professional communication, enhancing patient education, and facilitating treatment acceptance. This study investigated the impact of dental photography through social media on patients' choice of dental care providers.

methodsThis cross-sectional survey-based study recruited a convenience sample of adult patients attending selected public and private dental facilities in Saudi Arabia. Data was collected using an online self-administered questionnaire. Participants received the link to the questionnaire through social media of their treating dentists.

resultsA total of 552 completed the survey of whom 289 (52.4%) aged 18-25 years, 291 (52.7%) were males, 336 (60.9%) were bachelors, and the majority 448 (81.2%) had a postgraduate degree. Snapchat was the most commonly used social networking application, n = 190 (34.4%). Females reported they were more likely to report that seeing the previous cases affect their choice of a dentist (2.025(1.253-3.274)) and that social media can affect their choice as well (1.787(1.219-2.621)). While those who never visited the dentist were less likely (0.622(0.395-0.978)) to support the use of dental photography and less likely (0.579(0.362-0.926)) to report that social media affect their choice of a dentist. Instagram was found to be a significant platform for selecting a dentist (OR = 1.132, range; 0.608-2.11) (p-0.05).

conclusionThe presence of the dentist in social networking sites and sharing of their pre-post treatment cases can be an effective marketing tool especially among females and Instagram users.

Indexed as

Choice BehaviorDental CareDentistsPhotography, DentalSocial MediaAdolescentAdultCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMaleSaudi ArabiaSurveys and QuestionnairesYoung AdultDental photographyDental practiceMarketingPatient perspectiveSocial media

Identifiers

PMID39838400
PMCPMC11753048

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.