Ellakany P, Aly N M, Hassan M G. #implantolgy: A content analysis of the implant related hashtags on Instagram. J Prosthet Dent 2023; DOI: 10.1016/j.prosdent.2023.10.013.

Full face picture receives more ‘likes'.

The global dental implant market was reported to be valued at 4.6 billion USD in 2002 and is estimated to grow at almost 10% per year over the next seven years. Patients seek health-related information through social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. Searching Instagram, using 12 implant-related hashtags on one day, the authors found 4,541,867 relevant posts. The 12 most popular posts under each hashtag were analysed.

Individual dentists posted 42% of the posts, ‘dental interest groups' (technicians, dental companies and practice accounts) posted 41% and patients 17%. Posts considered educational received significantly higher likes or views than posts promoting practices or products, but only 37% of the educational posts contained pictures, compared to 70% of the promotional posts. Eighty-five percent of the educational posts shared clinical facts but there was a low percentage of accuracy.

The visual nature of Instagram makes it easy for dentists to showcase their expertise but concerns remain about patient privacy and accuracy of information provided.