Abstract
Introduction There are many conflicting demands for dentists and dental care professionals (DCPs) when using social media, for example between using social media for marketing and as professional provider of information. To gain a fuller understanding of how dentists/DCPs should optimally use social media, these conflicting demands need to be explored. The aim of this scoping review was to map out the current state of the literature describing the conflicting demands encountered by dentists and DCPs when using social media and the approaches used to manage these conflicting demands.
Methods A scoping review was carried out. PubMed and Web of Science Core Collection were searched using inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data was extracted from the identified articles and analysed.
Results The review identified 39 articles for inclusion. Conflicting demands were related to marketing and education with little information about how these conflicting demands can be managed.
Conclusions The published literature on dentists'/DCPs' use of social media highlights that there are conflicting demands and little advice on management strategies. To gain an understanding of these conflicting demands, further research is required, including looking at the patient perspective, to inform future practice.
Similar content being viewed by others
Log in or create a free account to read this content
Gain free access to this article, as well as selected content from this journal and more on nature.com
or
References
Kaplan A M, Haenlein M. Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Bus Horiz 2010; 53: 59-68.
Office for National Statistics. Dataset: Internet access - households and individuals. 2018 Online information available at https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/householdcharacteristics/homeinternetandsocialmediausage/datasets/internetaccesshouseholdsandindividualsreferencetables (accessed December 2018).
Duffy M. iNurse: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, Oh My! Am J Nurs 2011; 111: 56-59.
Kevin O'Brien. Kevin O'Brien's Orthodontic Blog. 2017. Online information available at http://kevinobrienorthoblog.com/ (accessed August 2017).
Mc Crory P V, Jacobs A V. Social media: Friends with patients. Br Dent J 2016; 221: 49-50.
Knösel M, Jung K, Bleckmann A. YouTube, dentistry and dental education. J Dent Educ 2011: 75: 1558-1568.
PalmBeachSmiles. Whoopi Goldberg talks about gum disease - It can kill you! 2008. Online information available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLDL8NhNxWA (accessed September 2014).
Parkinson J W, Turner S P. Use of social media in dental schools: Pluses, perils, and pitfalls from a legal perspective. J Dent Educ 2014; 78: 1558-1567.
Phillips J, Berge Z L. Second life for dental education. J Dent Educ 2009; 73: 1260-1264.
NHS Health Education England. Advancing Dental Care: Education and Training Review. 2018. Online information available at https://www.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Advancing%20Dental%20Care%20Final%20Report%20.pdf (accessed December 2018).
Thackeray S. Social media isn't the real world. 2017. Online information available at: https://www.gdpuk.com/blogs/simon-thackeray (accessed November 2017).
Neville P. Social media and professionalism: a retrospective content analysis of Fitness to Practise cases heard by the GDC concerning social media complaints. Br Dent J 2017; 223: 353-357.
Mills J. Dental nurses given official reprimands after 'appalling' comments about Muslims. 2016. Online information available at: https://metro.co.uk/2016/05/13/dental-nurses-given-official-reprimands-after-appalling-comments-about-muslims-5879249/ (accessed May 2019).
General Dental Council, Professional Conduct Committee, October 2018. Fitness to Practise Hearing: Pate R G. Online information available at: https://gdcolrlive.blob.core.windows.net/annotationspublic/5f407145-b3e9-e911-a812-000d3a6492fc (accessed November 2019).
Munn Z, Peters M D J, Stern C, Tufanaru C, McArthur A, Aromataris E. Systematic review or scoping review? Guidance for authors when choosing between a systematic or scoping review approach. BMC Med Res Methodol 2018; 18: 143.
Tricco A C, Lillie E, Zarin W et al. PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and Explanation. Ann Intern Med 2018; 169: 467-473.
Arksey H, O'Malley L. Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework. Int J Soc Res Methodol 2005; 8: 19-32.
U S. National Library of Medicine. PubMed. Online information available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed (accessed December 2018).
U S. National Library of Medicine. Health Personnel MeSH Descriptor Data 2018. 1999. Online information available at https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/record/ui?ui=D006282 (accessed December 2018).
U S. National Library of Medicine. Internet MeSH Descriptor Data 2018. 2017. Online information available at https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/record/ui?ui=D020407 (accessed December 2018).
Hatmaker T. The Top 8 Moments that made Social Media matter in 2012. 2013. Online information available at https://readwrite.com/2013/01/02/top-social-media-moments-of-2012/ (accessed August 2017).
Kothari H, Pruzansky D P, Park J H. What influences a paediatric dentist to refer to a particular orthodontist? J Clin Orthod 2016; 50: 231-238.
Gonzalez S M, Gadbury-Amyot C C. Using Twitter for teaching and learning in an oral and maxillofacial radiology course. J Dent Educ 2016; 80: 149-155.
Khatoon B, Hill K B, Walmsley A D. Instant messaging in dental education. J Dent Educ 2015; 79: 1471-1478.
Abdelkarim A, Sullivan D. Perspective of dental students and faculty about evidence-based dental practice. J Evid Based Dent Pract 2014; 14: 165-173.
Henry R K, Pieren J A. The use of social media in dental hygiene programmes: a survey of programme directors. J Dent Hyg 2015; 88: 243-249.
De Groote S L, Shultz M, Blecic D D. Information-seeking behaviour and the use of online resources: a snapshot of current health sciences faculty. J Med Libr Assoc 2014; 102: 169-176.
Snyman L, Visser J H. The adoption of social media and social media marketing by dentists in South Africa. SADJ 2014; 69: 258, 260-264.
Khatoon B, Hill K B, Walmsley A D. Dental students' uptake of mobile technologies. Br Dent J 2014; 216: 669-673.
Beebe C R, Gurenlian J R, Rogo E J. Educational technology for millennial dental hygiene students: a survey of U S. dental hygiene programmes. J Dent Educ 2014; 78: 8, 338-338: 349.
Arnett M R, Loewen J M, Romito L M. Use of social media by dental educators. J Dent Educ 2013; 77: 1402-1412.
Hamm M P, Chisholm A, Shulhan J et al. Social media use by health care professionals and trainees: a scoping review. Acad Med 2013; 88: 1376-1383.
Haas J, Park J H. Orthodontic Marketing through online social networks. J Clin Orthod 2012; XLVI(3): 159-164.
Brown J. Harness social media to grow your practice. CDS Rev 2015; 108: 8-10.
Drone J. It's on Facebook, so it must be true. J Indiana Dental Assoc 2015; 94: 16-19.
Henry K. Navigating online networks: Making social media work for the dental team. Dent Assist 2013; 82: 6-8.
Hughes K. Social media: connecting patients and practices. Inside Dentistry 2012; 8.
Jorgensen G. Social media basics for orthodontists. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2012; 141: 510-515.
Levin R P. Dealing with negative publicity. J Am Dent Assoc 2012; 143: 70-71.
Meerschaert C. Practical tips for managing LinkedIn and Facebook (on top of everything else). J Okla Dent Assoc 2012; 103: 32-34.
Risk W B. The train is leaving the station… J Indiana Dental Assoc 2015; 94: 12-13.
Spallek H, Turner S P, Donate-Bartfield E et al. Social media in the dental school environment, Part A: benefits, challenges and recommendations for use. J Dent Educ 2015; 79: 1140-1152.
Spallek H, Turner S P, Donate-Bartfield E et al. Social media in the dental school environment, Part B: curricular considerations. J Dent Educ 2015; 79: 1153-1166.
Khatoon B, Hill K B, Walmsley A D. The dos and don'ts of social networking in dentistry. Dent Update 2014; 41: 690-696.
Stein C D, Eisenberg E S, O'Donnell J A, Spallek H. What dental educators need to understand about emerging technologies to incorporate them effectively into the educational process. J Dent Educ 2014; 78: 520-529.
Hatch T, Bates H, Khera S, Walton J. Professionalism and social media: an interprofessional learning activity. Med Educ 2013; 47: 1136-1137.
McAndrew M, Johnston A E. The role of social media in dental education. J Dent Educ 2012; 76: 1474-1481.
Oakley M, Spallek H. Social media in dental education: a call for research and action. J Dent Educ 2012; 76: 279-287.
Salajan F D, Mount G J. Leveraging the power of Web 2.0 tools: a wiki platform as a multimedia teaching and learning environment in dental education. J Dent Educ 2012; 76: 427-436.
Affleck P, Macnish K. Should 'fitness to practise' include safeguarding the reputation of the profession? Br Dent J 2016; 221: 545-546.
Neville P, Waylen A. Social media and dentistry: some reflections on e-professionalism. Br Dent J 2015; 218: 475-478.
Roucka T M, Donate-Bartfield E, Zarkowski P. In social media age, watch what you say. Gen Dent 2014; 62: 19-21.
Foster J. Social media. J Ir Dent Assoc 2013; 59: 98-99.
Hancocks S. Social media - i, me and e. Br Dent J 2013; 215: 57.
Peltier B, Curley A. The ethics of social media in dental practice: ethical tools and professional responses. J Calif Dent Assoc 2013; 41: 507-513.
Schafer J. She said what on Facebook?! J Mich Dent Assoc 2013; 95: 22.
Chan S D. Being professional in the social media world. J Am Coll Dent 2012; 79: 48-55.
Perel M L. Professional media as opposed to social media. Implant Dent 2012; 21: 441.
Thomas A, Lubarsky S, Durning S J, Young M E. Knowledge syntheses in medical education: demystifying scoping reviews. Acad Med 2017; 92: 161-166.
Wakeford R, Roberts W. Using Medline for comprehensive searches. Br Med J 1993; 306(6: 889): 1415.
Smailhodzic E, Hooijsma W, Boonstra A, Langley D J. Social media use in healthcare: A systematic review of effects on patients and on their relationship with healthcare professionals. BMC Health Serv Res 2016; 16: 442.
General Dental Council. Guidance on using social media. 2016. Online information available at: https://www.gdc-uk.org/docs/default-source/principle-4/guidance-on-using-social-media.pdf?sfvrsn=abf03a63_2 (accessed October 2019).
Obree D, Trathen A. The special ethics of dentistry. In Papanikitas A, Spicer J (ed) The handbook of primary care ethics. pp 385-392. London: CRC Press, 2017.
Levac D, Colquhoun H, O'Brien K K. Scoping studies: advancing the methodology. Implement Sci 2010; 5: 69.
Griffiths J. The social working of legal rules. J Legal Pluralism 2003; 48: 1-84.
General Dental Council. What we do. 2017. Online information available at: https://www.gdc-uk.org/about-us/what-we-do (accessed December 2017).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
C. Greer, A., W. Stokes, C., Zijlstra-Shaw, S. et al. Conflicting demands that dentists and dental care professionals experience when using social media: a scoping review. Br Dent J 227, 893–899 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-019-0937-8
Published:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-019-0937-8
