Preparation and Quality Assessment of a Dental Trauma Website

Aim: The aim is to create a Turkish website with information on emergency care for dental trauma patients and to determine its effect by assessing the users' level of knowledge. Materials and Methods: The domain "disacil.ege.edu.tr" hosts a Turkish website on University's server that lists immediate treatment options. Information on emergency management for both dentitions and the mobile application "ToothSOS", along with the addresses of facilities working 24/7 in Izmir were provided. Keywords as "tooth injury, emergency tooth injury, tooth dislocation, Izmir, dental trauma, tooth fracture, dental emergency, emergency tooth" were used to display the webpage. The website was assessed using standards set out by DISCERN, JAMA, and Ensuring Quality Information for Patients (EQIP). Cetinkaya-Uzun-Readability Index assessed the text's readability. The website's comprehension was tested on 200 parents of patients who applied to the pediatric dentistry clinic using pre-and post-tests. Results: The website met JAMA requirements and obtained 64 for DISCERN and 75 on EQIP. "Educational" and "Independent Readability Level" were assigned to the texts. There was an increase in the number of right answers in post-test. The rate of correct answers was higher in ‘high-education’ group. Information on appropriate storage media for an avulsed tooth showed statistically significant improvement (17%- 57%) (p< 0,05). The average understandability score was 4.5 on 5-point Likert Scale. Conclusion: Findings showed that dental trauma knowledge may increase by the website. Clear, accurate, and trustworthy information in Turkish may help trauma sufferers in Turkey and may present a good model for other countries.