Dental caries misinformation on Instagram: Investigation of sharing and engagement factors

This study aimed to identify misinformation related to dental caries in Brazilian Portuguese on Instagram, analyzing factors associated with its dissemination and corresponding engagement metrics. Two independent investigators conducted a qualitative analysis of 500 posts published between August 2018 and August 2022. Posts were selected using the CrowdTangle tool and assessed for author's profile, content, motivation, facticity, format, and sentiment. Data were evaluated using descriptive analysis, the Mann-Whitney U test, and path analysis through generalized structural equation modeling. Topic modeling analysis was also performed using QDA Miner software with the WordStat module to identify underlying topics in dental caries-related information and misinformation. The findings indicated that 21.8% of the analyzed posts contained misinformation, primarily on content shared by regular users regarding dental caries treatment. No significant relationship was observed between misinformation and user engagement; however, posts with misinformation showed a significantly higher median total interaction than those without. Overperformance scores were positively correlated with business and health-related profiles, as well as higher total interaction levels. Financial motivation was less frequently associated with treatment-related posts, reflecting the tendency of promotional content to focus on preventive technologies. Lastly, whereas the misinformation predominantly addressed dental caries treatment, diet, microorganisms, and oral hygiene, the accurate information mainly covered prevention, treatment, and oral hygiene. Although these findings were not associated with higher user engagement, they underscore concerns regarding the dissemination of misleading information about dental issues online. Business and health professional profiles demonstrated good potential to disseminate reliable information with higher engagement metrics.