Evaluation of readability and content of patient ınformation texts on turkish websites about pediatric dentistry under sedation

Purpose: Disability status, fear, and anxiety can pose an obstacle to planned dental treatment in children. In such cases, the delivery of dental treatment with sedation is a very common treatment method and more comfortable for both pediatric patients and physicians. This study aims to evaluate the readability and content of patient information texts on websites related to the delivery of dental treatments with sedation in pediatric patients. Materials and Methods: The ?rst 60 Turkish websites were scanned in Google (Google LLC, MountainView, California, USA) search using the keywords ?pediatric dental treatment under sedation? in Turkish. After the ?rst 60 websites were evaluated according to the exclusion criteria, a total of 31 websites were included in the study and the information texts were evaluated according to the Ateşman Readability Index (ARI). Their contents were also examined in terms of whether or notthey provided suf?cient information about the procedure. Results: The texts examined in the study were moderately dif?cult (52,9±9,4) according to the ARI and at 11th ? 12th grade level, most of the websites examined were owned by private clinics (64,5%), and the texts were prepared by pediatric dentists. The content of information on the examined websites could be deemed suf?cient in terms of the de?nition of sedation (100%), the indications (100%), and the bene?ts (83,8%); however, the complications (29,1%), possible procedure-related complications (16,2%), its difference from general anesthesia (54,8%) and the cost (29,1%) were not addressed suf?ciently. Conclusions: The results of the study suggested that the relevant patient information texts on Turkish websites need to be organized in a more understandable manner. For this purpose, readability tests may be used before publishing the text. The reason why most of the texts did not mention contraindications, complications, and cost of sedation may be intending not to create fear or prejudice about the procedure among readers. However, when preparing an information text on an interventional medical procedure, it is legally and ethically required to inform the reader about that procedure fully and clearly