Oral health education on tooth whitening via Instagram

Abstract

Due to the escalating demand for tooth whitening, the over-the-counter (OTC) tooth whitening market has gone from strength to strength in recent years. However, the public knowledge about tooth whitening is far from satisfactory. This project aimed to provide oral health education (OHE) on tooth whitening to young adults using Instagram and hence assessed its effectiveness. An Instagram account was created to disseminate information on tooth whitening. Various functions of Instagram, including posts, stories, pollings, quizzes and direct messages, were utilised. Four topics namely, causes of tooth discolouration, over-the-counter tooth whitening products, professional tooth whitening therapy and side effects of tooth whitening, were introduced in 15 posts. Followers of the account were then invited to complete an online questionnaire consisting of 19 questions, with the aim to assess their self-perceived understanding of the four topics of tooth whitening and their perceived need for tooth whitening as well as evaluate the Instagram account and compare the effectiveness of different channels for oral health promotion. The Instagram account had attracted over 700 followers with an average reach of around 1600 for each post. A total of 110 responses to the questionnaire were collected. In general, the followers had a rather low level of understanding of tooth whitening before following the account since their mean scores with regard to the four topics were all below 5 (3.6 – 4.7 out of 10). The mean scores increased to 6.3 – 6.5 after following with significant change (Wilcoxon signed rank test, p<0.001). Almost all (108, 98.2%) respondents agreed that the account had been effective in enhancing their understanding on tooth whitening. Respondents with low perceived need for tooth whitening showed higher scores on tooth whitening knowledge than those with high level of need before and after following the account. Respondents without dental background had greater score change compared to those with dental background after following the account and had similar scores as those with dental background before following. 70% of respondents ranked social media as the most effective channel for oral health promotion. To conclude, the Instagram account was effective in delivering oral health education to young people. Young adults found social media to be the most effective channel to promote oral health because of accessibility and interactiveness. A substantial portion of the young adults perceived them in moderate to high levels of need for tooth whitening. The Instagram @whitening.toothman had enhanced the knowledge of tooth whitening considerably in terms of causes of tooth discolouration, OTC whitening products, professional whitening therapy and side effects of tooth whitening. Majority of people preferred social media as the medium for promoting oral health information.