Dental Journal (Majalah Kedokteran Gigi)
Vol. 59 No. 1 (2026): March

Are YouTube™ videos a reliable source of information about temporomandibular joint arthrocentesis?

Muhammet Bahattin Bingül (Department of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Harran University, Sanliurfa)
Mehmet Emrah Polat (Department of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Harran University, Sanliurfa)



Article Info

Publish Date
25 Jan 2026

Abstract

Background: Arthrocentesis is a very common method of joint-space lavage for temporomandibular joint disorders. This study evaluated the content and quality of YouTube™ videos on temporomandibular joint arthrocentesis as a source of information for patients, using a sample of 80 videos. Purpose: The goal of this study was to analyze popular YouTube™ videos associated with temporomandibular joint arthrocentesis and to evaluate their accuracy and quality. Methods: The authors searched for the keywords “temporomandibular joint arthrocentesis” on YouTube™ and filtered the first 80 videos by number of views; the 42 videos that met the inclusion criteria were evaluated. Each video was scored between 0 and 8 and categorized as containing poor, moderate, or excellent content. When evaluating the results, the significance level was set at 5%: p<0.05 for a significant difference and p>0.05 for no significant difference. Results: The quality of 61.9% of the evaluated videos was moderate. Some 38.1% of the videos contained poor information content. Evaluated by target group, videos targeting health professionals were more effective in terms of content than videos targeting only lay people (p=0.005), but there was no difference in the interaction and viewership data. Conclusion: YouTube™ may currently be providing patients with misleading content about arthrocentesis. However, YouTube™ videos may affect patients’ decisions. Videos should therefore be checked before they are posted.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

MKG

Publisher

Subject

Dentistry

Description

The Dental Journal (Majalah Kedokteran Gigi) (e-ISSN:2442-9740; p-ISSN:1978-3728) is published by the Faculty of Dental Medicine, Universitas Airlangga. Its diciplinary focus is dental science and dental hygiene. The Dental Journal (Majalah Kedokteran Gigi) is published in English on a quarterly ...