Quality and engagement of Instagram content related to mouthguard use in the prevention of sports-related dental trauma: A cross-sectional content analysis

Background Social media platforms have become major sources of health-related information, particularly among children, adolescents, and their caregivers. Instagram, one of the most widely used platforms, hosts a large volume of user-generated content on preventive health topics. Mouthguards are an effective measure for preventing sports-related dental trauma; however, their use remains limited, partly due to insufficient awareness and access to reliable information. Evaluating the quality and engagement of social media content may help identify gaps in preventive oral health communication. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the quality and user engagement of Instagram posts related to mouthguard use in the prevention of sports-related dental trauma. Materials and methods A descriptive cross-sectional content analysis was conducted on publicly available Insta gram posts identified using nine predefined hashtags related to mouthguards, sports dentistry, and dental trauma. Posts published between February 2025 and November 2025 were retrospectively analyzed. A total of 90 Eng lish-language posts meeting predefined inclusion criteria were included. Content characteristics, post type, and engagement metrics (likes, comments, and follower counts) were recorded. Engagement rate was calculated to enable standardized comparison across accounts. Content quality was evaluated using the Instagram Quality Assessment Tool (IQAT), a structured scoring system specifically developed for this study based on established health information quality criteria. Posts were categorized as promotional, educational, or clinical case content, with clinical case content defined as posts presenting real patient cases, treatment procedures, or clinical out comes. Non-parametric statistical tests were used to compare content types and assess the relationship between quality and engagement. Results The mean quality score of the analyzed posts was 9.21 ± 4.84, indicating an overall low level of informa tional quality. Promotional content accounted for the majority of posts (53.3%), followed by clinical case content (30.0%) and educational content (16.7%). Promotional posts demonstrated significantly lower quality scores (6.20 ± 2.02) compared with educational (14.22 ± 5.04) and clinical posts (15.85 ± 4.38) (p < 0.001). No significant correlation was observed between content quality and engagement rate (ρ = − 0.024, p = 0.820), suggesting that higher-quality content did not result in greater user interaction. Conclusion Instagram content on mouthguard use appeared to be predominantly promotional and demonstrated generally limited educational value based on the sampled posts evaluated in this study. Although educational and clinical posts demonstrate higher quality, this does not appear to translate into increased user engagement. Greater involvement of dental professionals and academic institutions may help improve the availability and reli ability of evidence-based preventive information on social media.