# Quality of YouTube™ videos on the clinical use of silver fluoride

## TL;DR

This study evaluates the quality and reliability of YouTube videos about using silver fluoride for dental caries, finding them moderately reliable but with room for improvement.

## Contribution

The study introduces a systematic evaluation of YouTube videos on silver fluoride clinical use, assessing reliability, quality, and adherence to manufacturer instructions.

## Key findings

- Videos showed moderately high reliability and usefulness but lower source quality.
- Adherence to manufacturer instructions varied, with at least 60% of steps demonstrated.
- Dental professionals produced most videos, but source quality did not significantly differ.

## Abstract

Silver fluoride (SF) is an effective, minimally invasive dental caries treatment, but the quality, reliability, and adherence to manufacturers’ instructions for use (IFU) in YouTube™ videos on SF usage remain uncertain.

To evaluate the reliability and quality of YouTube™ videos on the clinical usage of SF and assess their adherence to their IFU.

A cross-sectional analysis of 78 YouTube™ videos was conducted. Reliability was assessed with modified DISCERN tool, source quality with Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria, production quality with Audio-Visual Quality tool, and content usefulness with Total Content Evaluation index. Adherence to clinical instructions was assessed with IFU Adherence Evaluation tool. Correlations between video characteristics and engagement metrics were analysed.

Videos had moderately high reliability (median mDISCERN score: 4 and IQR: 3–4) and usefulness (median TCE score: 5 and IQR: 4–6), but source quality was lower (median JAMA score: 2 and IQR: 2–3). Adherence to IFU varied between SF brands, with videos demonstrating at least 60% of steps. Dental professionals were the most frequent video producers, but no significant quality differences were observed between sources.

YouTube™ offers potential as a learning resource for SF usage, although stricter guidelines are needed to ensure accurate information is provided.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40368-025-01102-w.