Early prevention from the first tooth - what do German dental homepages recommend?

BACKGROUND

Preventive dental care for children should begin with the first primary tooth. New early dental screening guidelines in Germany (Fruehuntersuchung FU 1a-c, Engl. early dental examination [EDE 1a-c]), which were established in 2019, recommend that screening begins at six months of age. It is unclear to what extent dental practices' websites in Germany provide such information for parents. This study aims to determine whether information on EDE is provided on German dental practices' websites.

METHODS

A systematic search was conducted in three search engines between September-December 2021. To investigate their technical and functional aspects, overall quality, and the risk of bias, websites were assessed using modified validated questionnaires (i.e. LIDA, DISCERN). Demographic information and statements about EDE were examined using a range of criteria, including the presence of general information about EDE, recommendations, and other relevant content. The researchers analysed 10 websites at baseline; inter-rater reliability was 0.874 (intra-rater: 0.962).

RESULTS

A total of 80 websites were analysed. The LIDA analysis showed that 57 websites (71.25%) met at least 50% of the criteria, while the DISCERN analysis found that 78 (97.5%) met at least 50% of the criteria. EDE was mentioned on 45 websites (56.3%). Specific recommendations related to EDE were mentioned on 30 websites (37.5%), and other relevant content was covered on 15 (18.8%) websites. Further information on tooth-healthy diets was provided on 24 (30%) websites; however, only four websites (5%) included information about oral hygiene.

CONCLUSIONS

While a large proportion of German dental practice websites mentioned EDE, few thoroughly explained it. Recommendations for oral hygiene and dental risk factors were also scarce. Thus, further efforts must be made to improve the provision of information on this preventive approach on the internet.