Perceptions of Social Media Use Among Dental Hygiene and Dental Hygiene Therapy Students and their Relative Applicability in Dental Education

There is an increasing use of social media platforms (SMP) by University students in dentistry. This study aimed to assess the perceptions of dental hygiene and dental hygiene therapy (DH/DHT) undergraduate students on the use of social media (SM) at the University of Portsmouth Dental Academy [UPDA].

A total of 144 undergraduate students who represented first [n=45], second [n=57], and third-year [n=41] students participated in the descriptive/ analytical study. Following the ethical approval and written consent form, all participants filled out a validated and reliable (Cronbach’s alpha: 0.691) questionnaire [four sections] that assessed sociodemographic, SM usage (type, duration, and purpose), and perceived advantages and disadvantages [16 items (5-point agreement-based Likert scale)]. Descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, and mean) were derived, followed by inferential statistics tests, such as Kruskal–Wallis and post-hoc test. The probability value was considered significant at a p-value of 0.05.

A higher percentage of study participants were females (76.22%), with an average age of 22.96 (4.58), which belonged mostly to the 16–25-year-old age group (72.1%). A higher frequency of participants spent 6–10 hours (h)/week (58.04%), with the most popular SMPs being WhatsApp, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook in descending order. Entertainment and general information were considered the purpose with higher frequency. Meanwhile, consensus was observed among most participants, who showed no significant differences (p˃0.050) in their agreements or disagreements and between students from different years.

Undergraduate DH/DHT students who use multiple SMPs largely perceive that these platforms are meant for entertainment and information gain. Most of the students agreed regarding the advantages and disadvantages of SMPs without any conflict.