Innovative Integration of Facebook Groups in Biomaterials Course: Perception of Dental Students

Social Media in Oral Health Education: A Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

The literature on the use of social media in oral health education has grown in recent years; however, the research activity on this topic has not been comprehensibly summarised. This scoping review aimed to map the available literature on students' and faculty's use of social media in oral health education across the platforms.

METHODS

This review was guided by Arksey and O'Malley's scoping review framework and adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extensions for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR). Seven databases were searched to include literature until October 2023. Studies were included if they were published in English and focused on using social media in oral health education. Two independent reviewers screened for article eligibility and extracted the relevant data.

RESULTS

The review included 40 articles published between January 2008 and October 2023. Most studies used quantitative approaches, did not specify the study design, were noninterventional and reported on undergraduate dental students' use of social media. Included studies centred on patterns of use, views and actual effectiveness of social media. YouTube emerged as the most frequently used platform, followed by Podcast, Facebook and WhatsApp.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of social media in oral health education was found to be useful based on direct and indirect outcome measures. However, robust research designs are required to further evaluate the impact of social media on oral health education.

Social networking website increases efficacy and engagement in a distance learning course about oral lesions

PURPOSE

Distance learning appears to be an attractive approach to continuing education courses, but one barrier is maintaining learner engagement throughout the course. The primary aim of this research was to evaluate the operational efficacy of a private Facebook™ group (FG) in serving as a support mechanism for distance learning courses, and its impact on three fundamental dimensions: the attrition rates of participants who did not complete the course (commonly referred to as dropout rates), the rates of course completion and approval, and the overall performance of the participants.

METHODS

The participants of this quasi-experimental study comprised 159 dental students and 565 dentists enrolled in an e-learning course on oral mucosal lesion diagnosis. Prior to the initiation of the course, all participants were provided with the option to join a private FG. Within this group, moderators shared motivational messages and provided reminders concerning deadlines. Moreover, participants had the opportunity to engage in interactive discussions pertaining to topics related to the course. The course itself followed a self-guided format, employing the flipped-classroom methodology, spanning a total of 50 instructional hours. In order to assess the effectiveness of the course, participants were presented with photographs illustrating 30 oral lesions and were asked to propose diagnostic hypotheses both before and after the educational intervention (pre-tests and post-tests).

RESULTS

Dentists who participated in the FG exhibited a significantly lower rate of discontinuation. As for dental students, their involvement in the group was positively associated with better performance, as determined by the percentage of accurate diagnostic hypotheses (a minimum of 70% correct responses was required for their approval in the course).

CONCLUSIONS

Facebook™ demonstrates promise as a supplementary pedagogical tool in distance education courses. The interactive nature of the platform has the potential to alleviate the inherent challenges of remote learning.

Factor analysis of risk perceptions of using digital and social media in dental education and profession

PURPOSE

This study explored how dental students and dental professionals perceive risks of using digital and social media (DSM) in a dental professional context and validated a questionnaire to measure DSM perceived risks specifically among dental students and dental professionals.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey study was carried out amongst dental students (undergraduate and postgraduate) and dental professionals at a dental school in the UK. Data were collected using a 38-item questionnaire developed using interviews, experts' evaluation, and previous perceived risks studies of internet services and social media. Risk factors were identified using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The internal consistency of the extracted factors was determined by Cronbach's α-coefficient reliability test.

RESULTS

A total of 301 dental students and dental professionals completed the questionnaire. EFA identified eight factors perceived by dental students and professionals as critical to their DSM use. Some identified perceived risks were associated with all DSM users in the general context (e.g., personal privacy, and negative impact on self-image), but others were specific to the dental professional context (e.g., breaches of patients' confidentiality, public deception, and reputational damage). The identified factors explained 63.55% of the variance with eigenvalues >1. Cronbach's alpha for the total questionnaire was 0.9.

CONCLUSIONS

This study data has deepened the understanding of perceived risks that influence dental students and professionals' DSM use. This will help develop education, training, and guidance to mitigate and manage the risks associated with DSM use in the dental professional context.