Identifying information voids on early childhood caries: An infodemiological study

• Grant number: 24/04762-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: April 01, 2025
• End date: October 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Dentistry - Pediatric Dentistry
• Principal Investigator: Thiago Cruvinel da Silva
• Grantee: Bruna de Paula Nogueira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia de Bauru (FOB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Early childhood caries (ECC) is a preventable disease that affects children under the age of six, manifesting as carious lesions in primary teeth. This condition is associated with the consumption of fermentable carbohydrates and the formation of dental biofilm. Despite advances in dental science over the past few decades, the prevalence of ECC remains very high on a global scale. Effective prevention of the disease requires the identification of risk factors, adequate parental education, and the implementation of health promotion strategies. Although access to information has increased with the advancement of digital communication, particularly digital media, there has also been a proliferation of false and unverified information. This phenomenon has contributed to the creation of an infodemic, adversely affecting the effective prevention of diseases like ECC. In this context, it becomes imperative to identify and fill information voids to ensure access to reliable information about the disease. The present study aims to identify information voids about ECC using social listening to enhance the understanding of specific needs for the effective prevention of the disease. The study will be developed in two main stages. The first stage will consist of collecting and analyzing information through social listening. Data from social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Reddit will be obtained from the Meta Content Library, with proper authorization from Meta Inc. Google search data will be obtained from Google Trends. The data collection will be conducted following a defined social listening taxonomy, which includes eight main topics and their respective subcategories, as identified in the previous study by Lotto et al. (2020). The second stage of the project will focus on identifying information voids about ECC, concentrating on frequently asked questions detected in the analyzed content. This method aims to ensure a structured and focused approach to precisely identifying the information needs related to the prevention of ECC.