Effects of the pandemic and economic crisis on public search trends related to oral and maxillofacial surgery in Türkiye: a Google Trends time-series analysis (2020–2025)

Large-scale societal disruptions, including pandemics and economic crises, profoundly influence healthcare-seeking behavior. Oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS) comprises both essential and elective procedures and is therefore particularly sensitive to external pressures. This study investigated how the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic downturn affected public interest in OMS-related procedures in Türkiye via Google Trends. This observational digital epidemiology time series study analyzed weekly relative search volume (RSV) data for four OMS-related keywords (“wisdom tooth extraction,” “oral surgery,” “implant,” and “jaw surgery”) retrieved from Google Trends between January 2020 and June 2025. Societal periods were categorized as pandemic restrictions/recovery, transition/normalization buffers, economic downturns, and extended follow-up periods. Data normality was assessed via the Shapiro–Wilk test. Between-period comparisons were conducted via the Kruskal–Wallis test with Dunn’s post hoc pairwise comparisons (Holm–Bonferroni adjustment). Temporal changes were evaluated using segmented regression (interrupted time series analysis), enabling the assessment of level and trend changes across predefined societal periods with robust Newey–West standard errors. Interest in “wisdom tooth extraction” and “oral surgery” increased significantly during the postpandemic recovery period (p < 0.05), which is consistent with the rebound demand for deferred essential care. In contrast, interest in “implant” and “jaw surgery” declined significantly during the economic downturn (p < 0.01), indicating reduced public attention to high-cost elective procedures due to financial constraints. Public online interest in OMS procedures in Türkiye was shaped differently by pandemic-related service disruptions and subsequent economic pressures. Google Trends appears to be a valuable complementary tool for monitoring population-level shifts in healthcare interest and may support proactive clinical planning and health policy decision making during periods of societal instability.