Quality, reliability, and content completeness of Chinese-language short videos on impacted wisdom teeth on TikTok and Bilibili: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Short-video platforms have become major channels for disseminating public health information. This study evaluated the quality, reliability, and content completeness of videos on impacted wisdom teeth on TikTok and Bilibili. It examined whether platform type, uploader category, and user engagement metrics were associated with these outcomes. METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted on November 20, 2025. The top 150 videos from each platform were retrieved using the standard Chinese clinical term for impacted wisdom teeth. After screening, 199 videos were included. Quality and reliability were assessed using the Global Quality Score (GQS), modified DISCERN (mDISCERN), and Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria. Content completeness was assessed using an 8-item clinical checklist. Uploaders were categorized as specialized healthcare professionals (SHCPs), non-specialized healthcare professionals (NSHCPs), and individual users (IUs). Non-parametric tests and Spearman's correlation analysis were used. RESULTS: Overall video quality and reliability were moderate, with median GQS, mDISCERN, and JAMA scores of 3.00. An "indication-heavy, contraindication-light" pattern was observed: indications (76.38%) and definitions (68.34%) were frequently covered, whereas contraindications (5.53%) were rarely addressed. Videos uploaded by SHCPs had significantly higher quality and reliability scores than those uploaded by IUs (all P < 0.001). Engagement metrics, including likes and shares, were not positively correlated with the established quality measures. CONCLUSIONS: Short videos on impacted wisdom teeth on Chinese short-video platforms were of moderate quality and provided limited coverage of contraindications and other risk-related information. Videos uploaded by specialized healthcare professionals tended to provide more reliable and complete information than those from non-professional sources. In contrast, user engagement metrics were not reliable indicators of informational quality. These findings may inform efforts to strengthen evidence-based dental communication on short-video platforms.