COMMUNICATION OF ORAL HEALTH MYTHS ON SOCIALMEDIA AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON ADOLESCENTS

Relevance. Current doctor-patient communication is now mediated by the use of social media, raising concerns among dentists about the quality of the information provided on the Internet and its scientifi c support, especially when the recipients of these messages are children and adolescents, with insuffi cient knowledge about oral health. Objective is to assess the infl uence exerted on adolescents by oral health myths communicated on digital social media. Methodology. Qualitative research was conducted at the «Felipe Poey» Secondary School in Plaza municipality in Havana, from February to March . A non-probabilistic sample of voluntary participants was taken, with  students of both sexes aged  to  who gave their consent to participate in the study. Results. .% of adolescents use WhatsApp, .% use Facebook*, and .% use Instagram*. On these platforms, .% have learned that “teeth cannot be brushed without toothpaste” and .% consider “Colgate the best” for brushing their teeth. .% reported seeing that “chewing gum causes cavities”, as well as that “cavities always cause pain”. Between .% and .% mentioned myths about the white colour of teeth. .% of the subjects want to have white teeth to look better, and if they do not have toothpaste, they do not brush their teeth, while .% believe they do not have cavities because they do not chew gum or have pain. Conclusions. The social media platforms Instagram** and Facebook*, frequently used by adolescents, communicate myths related to dental brushing, dental cavities, and tooth colour that have an impact in their oral health, generating risk factors such as poor oral hygiene, irregular visits to the dentist, and altered perception of dental aesthetics.