09 December 2025

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Comparison of patient testimonials of orthognathic surgery on YouTube and TikTok

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Objectives: To investigate and compare the educational value of the most popular testimonials between TikTok (TT) and YouTube (YT), and to classify the emotional response of viewers through sentiment analysis of video comments on both platforms involving orthodontic patients who will undergo orthognathic surgery.

Materials and methods: Two distinct social media searches were conducted using specific search phrases on TT and YT. For each search phrase, 30 videos were gathered from each platform, and details such as number of views, likes, and comments were recorded for each video. Each video was then evaluated for completeness of information using an Information Completeness Score (ICS). A set of comments were collected for each video, and a Sentiment Analysis Score (SAS) was assigned using Azure Machine Learning.

Results: TT had a higher number of views, likes, and comments. YT videos had a significantly higher ICS than TT (P < .0001). No statistically significant difference was found when evaluating SAS between the platforms or across phrase groups (P > .05), and no relationship was found between views, likes, comments, and SAS or ICS.

Conclusions: YT had higher-quality information within patient testimonials posted due to higher ICS values found than TT. Patient testimonials were not determined to have a positive or negative influence on potential patient opinions in either platform. Orthodontists should leverage their own TT profiles to help direct patients toward meaningful YT testimonials through informative video links.

Authors: Arianna Alvarado Garcia, Leah Rahman, Mathew J Gregoski, Ildeu Andrade Jr

Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/