Rey Otero, G.Diniz Freitas, MárcioRivas Mundiña, BertaVarela Aneiros, IvánSande López, LucíaLimeres Posse, JacoboGarcía Mato, E.2025-03-102025-03-102024-06-26Rey-Otero G, Diniz-Freitas M, Rivas-Mundiña B, et al. How trustworthy is online dental information for individuals with Down syndrome from Ibero-American countries? Spec Care Dentist. 2024; 44: 1688–1699. https://doi.org/10.1111/scd.130370275-1879https://hdl.handle.net/10347/40138Background: Internet has become an indispensable source of health-related information. However, several studies have shown there to be a lack of quality control for webpages related to disability. Specifically, available content concerning Down syndrome (DS) and dentistry is limited and of dubious quality. Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess the quality of online content in Spanish and Portuguese on dental care for individuals with DS. Methods: A simultaneous search in Google and Bing using the terms “Down syndrome” and “odontology/dentist/dental treatment” in Spanish and Portuguese was conducted in seven Ibero-American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, and Portugal). The first 100 consecutive pages of results from the three combinations of terms in each of the search engines were accessed and selected by applying conventional exclusion criteria. The selected pages were classified according to their authorship, specificity and dissemination potential. The quality of the online content was assessed using the DISCERN questionnaire and the Questionnaire to Evaluate Health Web Sites According to European Criteria (QEEC). The presence of the Health On Net (HON) and Accredited Medical Website (AMW) seals was also assessed. Results: The mean DISCERN score was 2.51 ± 0.85 and 2.57 ± 0.86 for the Spanish and Portuguese webpages, respectively. The mean readability score was 3.43 ± 1.26 and 3.25 ± 1.08 for the Spanish and Portuguese webpages, respectively. None of the selected webpages presented the HONcode or AMW trust seals.ConclusionsThe content available online in Spanish and Portuguese regarding Down syndrome and dentistry is scarce and of highly questionable quality.eng© 2024 The Author(s). Special Care in Dentistry published by Special Care Dentistry Association and Wiley Periodicals LLC. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium,provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Dental treatmentDentistDisabilitiesDown syndromeOdontology321313 Ortodoncia-estomatologíaHow trustworthy is online dental information for individuals with Down syndrome from Ibero-American countries?journal article10.1111/scd.130371754-4505open access