Content Analysis of Dentist-directed Advertisements in Dental Journals

Dentist-targeted advertisements may influence clinical judgments of dentists and well-being of dental patients. Such advertisements are found in the majority of printed paid-subscription (PS) and controlled-circulation (CC) journals in dentistry. Since dental devices are considered to be medical devices by the FDA, advertisements of dental devices should adhere to the FDA’s guidelines for truthful advertising.

31 journal issues from 8 US-based printed dental journals ranging from December 2011 to July 2012 were sampled based on their availability in the Countway library of Medicine. Full-page advertisements were analyzed. Two reviewers performed content analysis for adherence to the FDA’s guidelines regarding claim of benefit, information on risks, use of headline, and use of graphics.

In our study sample, PS issues (n=14) had a higher percentage of full-page advertisements than CC issues (n=17) (mean±SD, 40.3±10.6 vs. 14.2±5.7; p<0.05). CC advertisements were less likely to contain information on risks, side-effects, or contraindications compared to PS advertisements (4% vs. 12%; p<0.05). CC advertisements were more likely to not contain misleading graphical data compared to PS advertisements (100% vs. 95%; p<0.05). No statistically significant difference was found between CC and PS advertisements in terms of evidence-based claims. Inter-reviewer bias was found to be significant only for the analysis of headlines/sub-headlines (kappa = 0.28).

Since the focus of the FDA’s guidelines presumably was on pharmaceutical agents, certain criteria may not be suitable for dental devices. Nevertheless, this study highlights the need for the development of a standard to which the quality of dental advertisements can be measured.