ONLINE INFORMATION ON ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT IN DENMARK: A POPULATION-BASED QUALITY ASSESSMENT AIM – To assess the content quality of Danish dental websites on orthodontic treatment (OT) using the DISCERN quality assessment tool, estimate the percentage of general dental practices offering OT, investigate the kinds of OT offered and appraise claims made when recommending one treatment modality over another.
MATERIAL AND METHODS – A list of registered dental clinics was downloaded from a Danish dental register index (n = 1,640). Sequence randomization was performed and 536 websites were randomly selected for review (33%).
RESULTS – We reviewed 536 websites 97.8% (n = 524) of which were from general dental practices (GPs) of whom 70% did not offer OT. The DISCERN mean Reliability (Q1-8) and Quality-of-Information (Q9-15) scores were 16.8/40.0 and 13.0/35.0, respectively. The mean Total score was 31.9/80.0. The quality of information on OT was “very poor” or “poor” in 77% of the websites. Of GPs offering OT (30%), 54% provided Invisalign®, 23% Inman Aligner®, 15% LiteWire® and 11% “other”. Only 24% of websites describing OT had information on relapse. In 41%, aligners were compared with full-fixed appliance (FFA) with some websites claiming that aligners are less painful (22%), faster (13%), less harmful (3%) or give better results (2%). Websites offering only one type of OT had lower DISCERN score compared with those offering more than one type (P < 0.001). Additionally, clinics offering Invisalign® compared aligners to FFA more often (P < 0.04), claiming they are less painful (P < 0.004) while their websites scored higher in DISCERN compared with those not offering Invisalign® (P < 0.002).
CONCLUSION – Danish dental websites provide “very poor” to “poor” quality of information on OT. According to their websites, 30% of Danish GPs offer OT. Only 24% provide information on relapse, while some claim that aligners yield better results, are faster and less harmful or painful than FFA. Invisalign® providers more often compare aligners to FFA and claim that aligners have less pain or discomfort. Also, they display information of higher quality based on DISCERN on their websites.