Did the Covid-19 Pandemic Affect the Viewer Profile for TV Dental News?

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, educational institutions were already successfully disseminating scientific information through YouTube. This study aims to descriptively investigate viewership for the YouTube channel TV Dental News of the School of Dentistry of UFMG (Brazil) before, during, and after the Covid-19 pandemic. This is a cross-sectional study comparatively analyzing three TV Dental News viewership periods: the Covid-19 pre-pandemic period, from February 1, 2019, to February 29, 2020 (pre-Covid-19); the Covid-19 pandemic period, from March 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021 (Covid-19); and the post-peak period of the Covid-19 pandemic, from January 1, 2022, to February 28, 2023 (post-Covid-19). The results reveal a significant increase in viewers in the compared periods, particularly women and non-subscribed viewers. Viewers from abroad are becoming more common than Brazilian viewers. There has been a substantial increase in the number of views over the years analyzed, indicating that high-quality, free education that can be accessed remotely is an important source of knowledge in dentistry.