Unveiling deception: Characterizing false amber necklace messages on Facebook.

BACKGROUND: Messages promoting the benefits of amber necklaces for children are common on social media, despite their health risks. AIM: This study characterized Facebook posts with false content about the efficacy of amber necklaces in teething. DESIGN: A sample of 500 English-language Facebook posts was analyzed by two investigators to determine the motivations, author's profile, and sentiments of posts. Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling was used to identify salient terms and topics. An intertopic distance map was created to calculate the topic similarity. These data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, the Mann-Whitney U test, Cramer's V test, and multiple logistic regression models, regarding the time since initial posting and interaction metrics. RESULTS: Most posts were made by business profiles and expressed positive sentiments, with social, psychological, and financial motivations. The posts were categorized into the topics "giveaway," "healing features," and "sales." Overperforming scores and total interaction increased with time since the initial posting. Posts with links had higher overperforming scores. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that Facebook posts about the efficacy of amber necklaces in teething are motivated by financial interests, using psychological and social mechanisms to achieve greater interaction with their target audience.

Exploring online oral health misinformation: a content analysis.

Considering the unfavorable implications of health falsehoods and the lack of dental research into information disorder, this study aimed to identify and characterize online oral health misinformation. A total of 410 websites published in English were retrieved using Google Advanced Search and screened by two independent investigators to compile falsehoods through thematic content analysis. Afterward, 318 pieces of misinformation were consensually divided into four groups concerning their informational interest (G1), financial, psychological, and social interests produced/disseminated by non-dental professionals (G2) or by dental professionals (G3), and political interests (G4). Social media (Facebook and Instagram) and fact-checking tool (Snopes) were also screened to determine the spread of falsehoods by identifying corresponding posts and warnings. As a result, misinformation was mainly associated with gum diseases (12.0%), root canal treatment (11.6%), toothache (10.4%), fluoride (10.4%), and dental caries (9.8%), with a special highlight on recommendations for the usage of natural products, toxicity concerns, and anti-fluoridation propaganda. Additionally, most misinformation was allocated in G3 (41.9%), which presented a statistically higher frequency of financial interests than G4. Finally, falsehoods were considerably identified on Facebook (62.9%) and Instagram (49.4%), especially G3 and G4. Nevertheless, Snopes has debunked only 5.9% of these content items. Therefore, misinformation was predominantly produced or disseminated by dental professionals mainly motivated by financial interests and usually linked to alternative/natural treatments. Although these items were shared on social media, fact-checking agencies seemed to have limited knowledge about their dissemination.

Reacting, Sharing, and Commenting: How Many Facebook Users Are Engaging with Posts Related to Dental Caries That Contain Misinformation?

Recent studies have been concerned about the vast amount of misinformation detected on social media that directly hampers the prevention and control of chronic diseases. Based on these facts, the aim of this study was to identify and characterize misinformation about dental caries-related content found on Facebook, regarding the predictive factors of user interaction with posts. Then, CrowdTangle retrieved 2,436 posts published in English, ordered by the total interaction of the highest users. A total of 1,936 posts were selected for inclusion and exclusion criteria to select a sample of 500 posts. Subsequently, two independent investigators characterized the posts by their time of publication, author's profile, motivation, the aim of content, content facticity, and sentiment. The statistical analysis was performed using Mann-Whitney U and χ2 tests and multiple logistic regression models to determine differences and associations between dichotomized characteristics. p values <0.05 were considered significant. In general, posts were predominantly originated from the USA (74.8%), related to business profiles (89%), presented preventive content (58.6%), and noncommercial motivation (91.6%). Furthermore, misinformation was detected in 40.8% of the posts and was positively associated with positive sentiment (OR = 3.43), business profile (OR = 2.22), and treatment of dental caries (OR = 1.60). While the total interaction was only positively associated with misinformation (OR = 1.44), the overperforming score was associated with posts from the business profile (OR = 5.67), older publications (OR = 1.57), and positive sentiment (OR = 0.66). In conclusion, misinformation was the unique predictive factor of increased user interaction with dental caries-related posts on Facebook. However, it did not predict the performance of the diffusion of posts such as business profiles, older publications, and negative/neutral sentiment. Therefore, it is essential to promote the development of specific policies toward good quality information on social media, which includes the production of adequate materials, the increase of the critical sense of consuming health content, and information filtering mediated by digital solutions.

Exploring online oral health misinformation: a content analysis

Abstract Considering the unfavorable implications of health falsehoods and the lack of dental research into information disorder, this study aimed to identify and characterize online oral health misinformation. A total of 410 websites published in English were retrieved using Google Advanced Search and screened by two independent investigators to compile falsehoods through thematic content analysis. Afterward, 318 pieces of misinformation were consensually divided into four groups concerning their informational interest (G1), financial, psychological, and social interests produced/disseminated by non-dental professionals (G2) or by dental professionals (G3), and political interests (G4). Social media (Facebook and Instagram) and fact-checking tool (Snopes) were also screened to determine the spread of falsehoods by identifying corresponding posts and warnings. As a result, misinformation was mainly associated with gum diseases (12.0%), root canal treatment (11.6%), toothache (10.4%), fluoride (10.4%), and dental caries (9.8%), with a special highlight on recommendations for the usage of natural products, toxicity concerns, and anti-fluoridation propaganda. Additionally, most misinformation was allocated in G3 (41.9%), which presented a statistically higher frequency of financial interests than G4. Finally, falsehoods were considerably identified on Facebook (62.9%) and Instagram (49.4%), especially G3 and G4. Nevertheless, Snopes has debunked only 5.9% of these content items. Therefore, misinformation was predominantly produced or disseminated by dental professionals mainly motivated by financial interests and usually linked to alternative/natural treatments. Although these items were shared on social media, fact-checking agencies seemed to have limited knowledge about their dissemination.

The Effect of Different Bleaching Treatments and Thermal-Mechanical Cycling on the Shear Bond Strength of Orthodontic Brackets.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to compare the shear bond strength (SBS) of orthodontic brackets bonded to the enamel after at-home and in-office bleaching treatments. METHODS: Sixty bovine incisors were subjected to initial color readings and then classified into three groups: CP (16% carbamide peroxide), HP (35% hydrogen peroxide), and C (control). After treatments, new color readout was obtained, and orthodontic brackets were bonded to the bleached area. Half of the samples of each group (n=10) were subjected to thermal-mechanical cycling (TMC) testing (1,200,000 cycles; 44.2 N; 2 Hz/s), whereas the other half were stored in distilled water at 37 °C for 24 h. Samples were subjected to the SBS test at a speed of 0.5 mm/min. The mean SBS was analyzed (two-way ANOVA, Bonferroni test, p<0.05), and the fracture patterns were classified as adhesive, cohesive, and mixed types. RESULTS: There was no difference (p>0.05) in SBS values between the samples subjected to TMC and the cycled samples in any group. Samples subjected to carbamide peroxide presented lower SBS (p<0.05) than the non-cycled ones. Enamel adhesive fractures were higher in the bleached groups than in the control group, which presented mixed fractures prevalence, regardless of whether it was subjected to TMC or not. CONCLUSION: Thermal-mechanical cycling was not significant for SBS of orthodontic brackets, but tooth bleaching was a factor.