This study’s findings agree with the results of several reports that younger-aged dentists are using SM to engage with their patients compared to older-age dentists [18, 19]. When considering a dentist’s age as a determinant factor in using SM, younger dentists (under 35 years old) were using Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat significantly more than older dentists. It is worth to mention that social media is relatively recent, where social platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat started only 10 years ago while Twitter started 14 years ago. Thus, someone could realize the larger effect of social media on younger generations who grew up with social media surrounding them.
Dentists must understand that SM’s professional use should be dictated by the type of SM frequently used by their patients. Furthermore, the daily use of SM was alarming as most respondents reported using SM for more than 30 min a day, which might introduce signs of SM “over-dependence” [20]. This reported overuse of SM needs to be addressed by dentists and professional organizations in the form of educational programs and counseling services to better guide dental professionals in the proper use of SM.
The effect of SM on dental care delivery is undisputable. Patients use SM to collect information on their health status, health concerns, and health care providers [21,22,23]. Our study’s findings confirmed the effect of SM, as the majority of sampled dentists believed that a high proportion of patients are using SM to choose their treating dentists. Ajwa et al. reported that 89.4% of dental practitioners believed that SM is the most effective marketing strategy to recruit patients into dental practices in Saudi Arabia. They also reported that 82.3% of their sampled participants mentioned that posting an ad on SM created an increased influx of patients to the dental clinics [14]. This is in line with the psyche of the current generation as they like to explore their options on SM before they embark on the journey, be it their doctor’s appointment or their travel expenses. It gives a sense of security because they back their information obtained on SM and the internet.
Because of the importance of SM’s role in shaping the dental practice, it is not surprising that more than half of the sampled dentists in this study reported discussing SM usage with their patients. Concerning the accuracy of health information on SM, Sumayyia et al. said that among other issues, addressing information accuracy may reduce the risk of misleading information to the patients [24]. This contribution could be made possible by encouraging patients and general masses to access repute websites with scientific rigor and informing their patients in the process of how to differentiate between websites of good and bad scientific quality.
In our study, most sampled dentists (74%) believe that dentists should take a leading role in rectifying inaccurate online health information. For this reason, Koumpouros et al. suggested that SM should be useful in marketing, gaining patients’ trust and covering their needs [25]. As also put forth by Mangold et al., the relationship between the originators of a healthcare message and the laypeople who read that message is changing and evolving constantly. Hence, a certain degree of control is required for healthcare professionals using SM platforms to manage the content validity and reliability reaching the laypersons through the internet, as misinformation is rampant and could have fatal consequences [26]. Bahkali et al. reported the importance of the accuracy of the health information available online. It can be used as a strengthening means to improve the health care system [27], and 74% of this study participants believe that dentists need to disapprove and clarify inappropriate or inaccurate online health information. This reflects an understanding of the situation about patients’ needs and in agreement with published literature.
No doubt that SM has made a significant change in the health profession in recent years. Part of this change is related to knowledge gain and improved clinical judgment. In our study, 86% of sampled dentists believed that SM could improve their knowledge and skills and promote their careers. These findings agree with similar literature [28, 29]. The ease of contact between healthcare providers and the public is one of SM’s strengths. Parmar et al. reported that about 44% of sampled patients liked the idea of being in contact with their dentists via SM [6]. In addition, Henry et al. reported that 52% of dentists contact their patients on Facebook [30]. In our study, less than half of the study sample were willing to provide dental consultation through SM. It is possible that the unwillingness of the majority of sampled dentists to provide dental consultation on SM could be related to inadequate information to make such consultation or fear of legal consequences for such consultation.
One of SM’s critical issues is related to ethical and privacy perspective [30, 31]. In this study, less than half of the respondents believed it is inappropriate for dentists to check their patient’s SM account. Lack of engagement on SM because of privacy issues has been previously reported [32]. Only 41% of the study sample felt comfortable conducting a consultation with patients. Clear-cut boundaries between medical professionalism and SM indiscretion need to be defined beforehand because new medical and dental students being inducted in respective programs already have a sense of technology applications being used to share information, leaving what is now being called a “digital footprint” for others to see [33]. Although SM usage has to be encouraged; some boundaries and guidelines are needed; misuse represents a significant risk to the individuals using or in charge of monitoring SM use in the clinical practice. Clear policies, limitations, and aspects of service should be available for dental personnel to reduce the risks [34,35,36,37].
Although close to a reported percentage by the published literature, this study’s results still reflect some conflict; participants are shy to be engaged themselves. Up to 70% of the participants doubted that patients would trust advice or information provided online or by phone. Together with the dentists, patients should develop critical appraisal skills to apply to the information posted on SM and be able to judge which is appropriate and trustworthy [38]. Targeted educational programs should be established to help dentists utilize SM, conduct a virtual clinic or learning sessions that might be advantageous, and be designed to target practicing dentists or undergraduate students [3].
The use of SM depends on several demographic factors, among which age plays an essential factor. To our surprise, there was no difference between older and younger participants favoring SM’s use. One study on US dental educators reported that older dental educators favored SM use [32]. On the other hand, two studies reported that younger dentists favored SM more than older dentists [30, 39]. A possible explanation for having older participants in our study favor SM’s use would be that most of them are consultants and specialists who have been trained in the US and Europe and have private practices. Most of them have SM accounts focused on their clinical practice. In our study, gender and qualifications were not contributing factors in using SM, especially when using SM for business purposes. Snyman and Visser made a similar observation among their sample of South African dentists. However, when SM is used for personal purposes, female dentists tend to favor using SM more than male dentists [40].
In this study, working experience had no effect on the use of SM. This observation is not similar to some other reported studies. For example, one study conducted in Ecuador reported that dentists with more than eight years of experience were associated with a lower likelihood of using SM [39]. Furthermore, it has been reported that there was no association between years of experience and SM use among sampled dentists in one study in South Africa [40]. This difference in SM use among experienced and less-experienced dentists could be explained in light of differences in people’s behaviors and attitudes toward SM among different nations and cultures.
Interestingly, the type of job setting did not affect SM’s use for the participants in this study. However, the number of working hours per week showed an association with the dentists’ opinion towards the use of SM. Those who worked less than 20 h per week scored higher than those who worked more than 50 h per week. This could be explained by the fact that consultants might be working fewer hours than general dentists, thus coinciding with the scores for both age and work experience in years where older and more experienced dentists scored higher for SM use.
This study sheds light on SM’s importance in dental practice as more dentists and patients are reliant on this form of technology. Dental practice can be enhanced by the SM’s use in the provision of dental services, advertising, counseling and oral health education. SM platforms could also be used for professional development, where dental organizations and dental educators can disseminate information and updates via different SM platforms. Nevertheless, future studies to examine the impact of individual SM platforms on dental practice and dental education is needed.
