Berretta Letícia Machado, Gasparello Gil Guilherme, de Souza Evelise Machado, Hartmann Giovani Ceron, Berretta Ewandro Carlos, Camargo Elisa Souza, Ignácio Sérgio Aparecido, MotohiroTanaka Orlando
Private Practice, Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Orthodontics, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, Medicine and Life Science School, Curitiba, Brazil.
PLoS One. 2025 Aug 21;20(8):e0330263. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0330263. eCollection 2025.
Social media has become a key platform for health-related communication and patient experience sharing. In orthodontics, analyzing patient-generated content on social media helps uncover perceptions, motivations, and concerns related to treatment. Understanding the most commonly reported complaints allows orthodontists to offer solutions, enhancing overall patient satisfaction with treatment The objective of this study is to identify and categorize patient views on orthodontic treatment across social media, providing a broader understanding of global patients' perspectives. The search was carried out on Instagram and X platforms using the hashtags #braces, #invisalign, #orthodontics, and #orthodontist. Data were collected over a seven-week period without restriction on languages or geographical locations. The qualitative analysis focused involved thematic categorization of posts content, while quantitative analysis used Pearson chi-square tests with Bonferroni-adjusted values, with a significance level of p < 0.05. A total of 18,605 posts were analyzed, with 96.60% (17,971 posts) from Instagram, and 3,4% (634 posts) from X platforms. Of the posts analyzed, 89.52% were made by dentists or dental clinics, 3.86% by dental product companies, and only 0.82% by patients undergoing orthodontic treatment. Five main themes were identified in patient posts: "positive accounts of orthodontic treatment" (40.53%), "enthusiasm about starting treatment" (20.26%), "reports of anxiety due to orthodontic treatment" (19.60%), "complaints and limitations about treatment" (16.34%), and "neutral accounts of orthodontic treatment" (3.27%). No statistically significant associations were found in the nature of content between the two platforms (p > 0.05). Dentists and clinics dominate social media discussions on orthodontics. Among patient-shared content, 'positive experiences' were the most frequently mentioned. No significant differences were observed between platforms in the type of posts analyzed.
社交媒体已成为健康相关交流和患者体验分享的关键平台。在正畸领域，分析社交媒体上患者生成的内容有助于揭示与治疗相关的认知、动机和担忧。了解最常报告的投诉能让正畸医生提供解决方案，提高患者对治疗的总体满意度。本研究的目的是识别和分类社交媒体上患者对正畸治疗的看法，以更全面地了解全球患者的观点。使用#牙套、#隐形矫治、#正畸学和#正畸医生等标签在照片墙（Instagram）和X平台上进行搜索。在七周的时间内收集数据，不限语言和地理位置。定性分析重点是对帖子内容进行主题分类，定量分析使用经邦费罗尼校正值的皮尔逊卡方检验，显著性水平为p < 0.05。共分析了18605条帖子，其中96.60%（17971条帖子）来自照片墙，3.4%（634条帖子）来自X平台。在分析的帖子中，89.52%由牙医或牙科诊所发布，3.86%由牙科产品公司发布，只有0.82%由正畸治疗患者发布。在患者帖子中确定了五个主要主题：“正畸治疗的积极描述”（40.53%）、“对开始治疗的热情”（20.26%）、“正畸治疗引起的焦虑报告”（19.60%）、“对治疗的投诉和限制”（16.34%）以及“正畸治疗的中性描述”（3.27%）。两个平台之间在内容性质上未发现统计学上的显著关联（p > 0.05）。牙医和诊所主导了社交媒体上关于正畸学的讨论。在患者分享的内容中，“积极体验”被提及的频率最高。在分析的帖子类型方面，各平台之间未观察到显著差异。
