Association Between Access to Dental Healthcare Services and Google Search Trends: A Regional Analysis from Sanliurfa, Turkey

Background: This study explores how access to dental healthcare services influences digital health-seeking behavior, based on regional Google search trends for oral health. Specifically, it investigates how fluctuations in the number of patients per dentist in Şanlıurfa influence public interest in terms such as "dentist," "implant," and "oral health." Materials and Methods: Population and dentist distribution data for Şanlıurfa were sourced from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), while search volume indices for selected keywords were obtained via Google Trends between the years 2014 and 2022. The analysis covered a defined time frame in which both dental service accessibility and online search behavior could be reliably tracked. A series of simple linear regression models were constructed, using the number of patients per dentist as the independent variable and Google Trends indices as dependent variables. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS version 20.0, with significance set at p < 0.05. Multicollinearity was assessed using VIF values, and no violations were detected. Results: The results revealed statistically significant inverse associations between dental care accessibility and search interest. The search term "dentist" exhibited the strongest correlation (R² = 0.844, p < 0.001), followed by "implant" (R² = 0.726, p = 0.004), and "oral health" (R² = 0.638, p = 0.010). These findings indicate a statistically significant trend in which improved dental service accessibility is associated with increased online search activity for health-related topics. Conclusion: There was a clear negative correlation between the number of patients per dentist and search activity, indicating that better access to dental care goes hand in hand with greater use of online health information. This suggests that improved access to dental services is associated with increased online search activity for dental-related topics