1887
Volume 2025, Issue 4
  • ISSN: 0253-8253
  • E-ISSN: 2227-0426

The dental home is essential for maintaining proper oral health in children. This study explores parents’ perspectives on using social media to find a dental home for their preschool-aged children.

A cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire administered to parents visiting Sidra Medicine, the only tertiary pediatric center in the State of Qatar.

A total of 384 questionnaires were completed by parents and caregivers, resulting in a 94% response rate. The majority of participating parents (66.9%) were male, with over 30 years of age accounting for 45.8%, and about half of them were college graduates. After learning about the concept of a dental home for preschool children, 73% of parents expressed interest. Nearly all participants were active on social media, and about 60.2% preferred to receive oral health messages through these platforms, while 10.9% were unsure. Furthermore, almost 60% believed that social media could influence their decision to seek a dental home, and 77.6% agreed that social media would be an effective way to promote proper oral hygiene. Facebook and Instagram were the two major platforms where our participants preferred to receive information regarding dental health. Importantly, three-quarters of the participants felt that primary care physicians or their representatives should use social media to send reminders about dental home care. Statistical analysis was performed to examine associations between parental age, gender, and educational status in relation to their perceptions of using social media to find a dental home for their children, but the results did not reveal any statistically significant correlations.

Social media can be a valuable tool for disseminating information and promoting the concept of a dental home for preschool children. In addition to social media, pediatricians can play a crucial role in advocating for the idea of a dental home for children.

© 2025 Hendaus, Elkalaf, Bamashmous, Abdalla, Hejji, Al-Debs, et al., licensee HBKU Press.
Loading

جارٍ تحميل قياسات المقالة...

/content/journals/10.5339/qmj.2025.105
٢٠٢٥-١٢-٠٢
٢٠٢٥-١٢-٠٥

القياسات

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/qmj/2025/4/qmj.2025.105.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.5339/qmj.2025.105&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Varghese TK Jr. How does information spread on social media lead to effective change? Clin Colon Rectal Surg. 2017 Sep; 30:(4):3–4. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0037-1604251
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  2. Neely S, Hao F. Diagnosis disclosure and peer-to-peer information seeking among COVID-19-infected social media users: survey of US-based adults. JMIR Form Res. 2023 Sep; 7:: e48581. https://doi.org/10.2196/48581
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  3. Poushter J, Bishop C, Chwe H. Social media use continues to rise in developing countries but plateaus across developed ones. Pew Research Center. 2018 Jun 19. Available from: https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2018/06/19/social-media-use-continues-to-rise-in-developing-countries-but-plateaus-across-developed-ones/. AccessedJune 21, 2025.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  4. Silver L, Smith A, Johnson C, Jiang J, Anderson M, Rainie L. Use of smartphones and social media is common across most emerging economies. Pew Research Center. 2019 Mar 7. Available from: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2019/03/07/use-of-smartphones-and-social-media-is-common-across-most-emerging-economies/. Accessed June 21, 2025.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  5. Antheunis ML, Tates K, Nieboer TE. Patients’ and health professionals’ use of social media in health care: motives, barriers and expectations. Patient Educ Couns. 2013 Sep; 92:(3):3–4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2013.06.020
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  6. California Department of Public Health . The consequences of untreated dental disease in children. Available from: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/DCDIC/CDCB/Pages/OralHealthProgram/LOHPs.aspx. Accessed on July 7, 2024.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  7. ADA . Statement on early childhood caries. Available from: https://www.ada.org/resources/ada-library/oral-health-topics/caries-risk-assessment-and-management/. Accessed July 7, 2024.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  8. Congiu G, Campus G, Luglie PF. Early childhood caries (ECC) prevalence and background factors: a review. Oral Health Prev Dent. 2014; 12:(1):3–4. https://doi.org/10.3290/j.ohpd.a31216
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  9. Al-Thani MH, Al-Thani AA, Al-Emadi AA, Al-Chetachi WF, Akram H, Poovelil BV. Oral health status of six-year-old children in Qatar: findings from the national oral health survey. Int J Dent Hyg. 2018 May; 16:(2):3–4. https://doi.org/10.1111/idh.12258
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  10. Alkhtib A, Ghanim A, Temple-Smith M, Messer LB, Pirotta M, Morgan M. Prevalence of early childhood caries and enamel defects in four and five-year old Qatari preschool children. BMC Oral Health. 2016 Aug; 16:(1):73. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-016-0267-z
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  11. Bramantoro T, Setijanto RD, Palupi R, Aghazy AZ, Irmalia WR. Dental caries and associated factors among primary school children in metropolitan city with the largest Javanese race population: a crosssectional study. Contemp Clin Dent. 2019 Apr-Jun; 10:(2):3–4. https://doi.org/10.4103/ccd.ccd_517_18
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  12. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality . Dental services-mean and median expenses per person with expense and distribution of expenses by source of payment: United States, 2009. Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component Data. Generated interactively. September 2012. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services; 2013. Available from: http://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/quick_tables.jsp=.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  13. Giriraju A, Lakshminarayan N. Dental home: a concept for early and everlasting smile. Sch J Dent Sci. 2017; 4:(3):3–4. https://doi.org/10.21276/sjds.2017.4.3.8
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  14. American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry . Definition of dental home. Available from: https://www.aapd.org/media/policies_guidelines/d_dentalhome.pdf. Accessed July 7, 2024.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  15. American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry . Policy on the dental home. Available from: https://www.aapd.org/media/Policies_Guidelines/P_DentalHome.pdf. Accessed July 7, 2024.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  16. Melkers J, Hicks D, Rosenblum S, Isett KR, Elliott J. Dental blogs, podcasts, and associated social media: descriptive mapping and analysis. J Med Internet Res. 2017 Jul; 19:(7):e269. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.7868
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  17. Spallek H, Turner SP, Donate-Bartfield E, Chambers D, McAndrew M, Zarkowski P, et al.. Social media in the dental school environment, part A: benefits, challenges, and recommendations for use. J Dent Educ. 2015 Oct; 79:(10):3–4.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  18. Hendaus MA, Siddiq K, AlQadi M, Siddiqui F, Kunhiabdullah S, Alhammadi AH. Parental perception of fluoridated tap water. J Family Med Prim Care. 2019 Apr; 8:(4):3–4. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_192_18
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  19. Hendaus MA, Shaltout D, Yasrab D, Al-Noubani A, Hamad SG, Alamri M, et al.. Parental perception of a dental home for children with special needs. Pediatric Health Med Ther. 2020 Sep; 11:: 379–84. https://doi.org/10.2147/PHMT.S263358
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  20. Hendaus MA, Leghrouz B, Allabwani R, Zainel A, AlHajjaji M, Siddiqui F, et al.. Parental attitudes about acquiring a dental home for preschool children: a new concept in the Arab state of Qatar. Pediatric Health Med Ther. 2018 Oct; 9:: 123–8. https://doi.org/10.2147/PHMT.S176114
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  21. Hendaus MA, Jama HA, Siddiqui FJ, Elsiddig SA, Alhammadi AH. Parental preference for fluoride varnish: a new concept in a rapidly developing nation. Patient Prefer Adherence. 2016 Jul; 10:: 2–3. https://doi.org/10.2147/PPA.S109269
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  22. Datareportal . Digital 2023: Qatar. Available from: https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2023-qatar. Accessed July 7, 2024.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  23. Krasnova H, Veltri NF, Eling N, Buxmann P. Why men and women continue to use social networking sites: the role of gender differences. J Strategic Inf Sys. 2017 Dec; 26:(4):3–4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsis.2017.01.004
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  24. Saha K, Chan L, De Barbaro K, Abowd GD, De Choudhury M. Inferring mood instability on social media by leveraging ecological momentary assessments. Proc ACM Interact Mobile Wearable Ubiquit Technol. 2017 Sep; 1:(3):3–4. https://doi.org/10.1145/3130960
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  25. Logghe HJ, McFadden CL, Tully NJ, Jones C. History of social media in surgery. Clin Colon Rectal Surg. 2017 Sep; 30:(4):3–4. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0037-1604250
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  26. Jin Y, Austin L, Vijaykumar S, Jun H, Nowak G. Communicating about infectious disease threats: insights from public health information officers. Public Relat Rev. 2019 Mar; 45:(1):3–4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2018.12.003
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  27. Patrick MD, Stukus DR, Nuss KE. Using podcasts to deliver pediatric educational content: development and reach of PediaCast CME. Digit Health. 2019 Feb; 5:: 2055207619834842. https://doi.org/10.1177/2055207619834842
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  28. Harrison D, Wilding J, Bowman A, Fuller A, Nicholls SG, Pound CM, et al.. Using YouTube to disseminate effective vaccination pain treatment for babies. PLoS One. 2016 Oct;11:(10):e0164123. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0164123
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  29. McInnes C, Hornmoen H. Add Twitter and Stir: the use of Twitter by public authorities in Norway and UK during the 2014-15 Ebola outbreak. Observatorio. 2018 Jun; 12:(2):3–4. ttps://doi.org/10.15847/obsOBS12220181173
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  30. Sobo EJ, Seid M, Reyes Gelhard L. Parent-identified barriers to pediatric health care: a process-oriented model. Health Serv Res. 2006 Feb; 41:(1):3–4. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6773.2005.00455.x
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
  31. Hale KJ; American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Pediatric Dentistry. Oral health risk assessment timing and establishment of the dental home. Pediatrics. 2003; 111:(5 Pt 1):1113–6. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.111.5.1113
     [Google الباحث العلمي]
/content/journals/10.5339/qmj.2025.105
Loading
Social media as a path to acquire dental home for children: A cross-sectional study in Qatar
Qatar Medical Journal 2025, 105 (٢٠٢٥); https://doi.org/10.5339/qmj.2025.105
/content/journals/10.5339/qmj.2025.105
/content/journals/10.5339/qmj.2025.105
Loading

جارٍ تحميل البيانات والوسائط...

  • نوع المستند: Research Article
الموضوعات الرئيسية dental home, dentistry, oral health, Pediatrics and social media

الأكثر اقتباسًا لهذا الشهر Most Cited RSS feed

هذه الخانة مطلوبة
يُرجى إدخال عنوان بريد إلكتروني صالح
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error