# The role of social media in parents’ approaches to dental treatment procedures under general anesthesia and sedation: a cross-sectional survey in Turkey

## TL;DR

This study shows that parents in Turkey use social media to decide on dental treatments for their children, with education and health literacy affecting how they interpret the information.

## Contribution

The study reveals the impact of social media on parental decision-making for dental treatments and how education and health literacy influence this process.

## Key findings

- 80% of parents searched for information on social media about general anesthesia and sedation.
- Social media use reduced anxiety and increased confidence in treatment decisions.
- Higher education levels correlated with greater trust in information found on social media.

## Abstract

The research investigates how parents use social media to decide between general anesthesia (GA) and sedation dental treatments for their children and evaluates the impact of educational level and health literacy on this decision-making process.

This study used a cross-sectional analytical approach to investigate 385 parents who resided in Konya province central districts. The research collected participant data about socio-demographic characteristics and social media usage habits and information-seeking behaviors through face-to-face questionnaires while conducting trustworthiness assessments. The research divided participants into subgroups based on their educational level and age and income and health literacy to evaluate treatment decision impacts and emotional changes across these groups. The researchers conducted statistical analyses through Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 23 software by applying Chi-square, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, and Wilcoxon tests.

The survey revealed that 80% of participants searched for GA/sedation information on social media platforms and 64.6% of participants stated that the information they found on social media influenced their treatment choices. The use of social media platforms was associated with decreased anxiety levels from 7.18 ± 1.82 to 6.09 ± 2.28 (p < 0.001) while simultaneously raising confidence and satisfaction expectations (confidence: 5.31 ± 2.14 to 6.82 ± 1.94; p < 0.001). The trustworthiness score of university graduates (3.64 ± 0.71) exceeded that of primary school graduates (2.83 ± 0.91) at a statistically significant level (p < 0.001). The exposure to negative content reached 60.1% of participants and the rate of exposure grew with increasing social media usage duration (3 + hours: 66.7% vs. < 1 h: 45.0%; p = 0.034).

The research demonstrates that social media was reported as a primary factor associated with parental choices. Heavy social media users experienced more negative content exposure but positive content reduced their anxiety levels. Health literacy together with education determine how people evaluate information yet the research shows that less educated individuals become more influenced by social media content.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12903-026-07779-9.