title: Breast-feeding and malocclusions: The quality and level of evidence on the Internet for the public.
abstract: The authors sought to assess the quality of information on the Internet for laypeople regarding the effect of breast-feeding on malocclusions and to determine the levels of evidence of the articles cited to support the information.
  
  
  
  The first author (E.J.D.) entered a key word term, "breast-feeding and crooked teeth," and a natural language term, "does breast-feeding protect against crooked teeth," into 4 search engines. The author performed consecutive sampling of every Web site until 5 Web sites were identified that fulfilled the inclusion criteria per search engine, per search term, producing 40 Web sites for evaluation. The author assessed quality using the LIDA instrument and determined the levels of evidence of the cited articles according to the Joanna Briggs Institute Levels of Evidence.
  
  
  
  The author determined that the quality of the Web sites was moderate, represented by a median overall LIDA score of 73%. The author identified only 2 high-quality Web sites. Nearly one-half of the Web sites cited a combined total of 10 scientific articles to support their content, and these ranged from moderate to very low levels of evidence.
  
  
  
  The authors found the quality of freely available information on the Internet for laypeople about the protective effect of breast-feeding against malocclusions to be moderate and that the evidence base cited to support the content ranged from moderate to very low levels of evidence.
  
  
  
  Increasingly, patients are seeking health information online, although not all information is credible. Dental heath care practitioners should regularly review their practices' Web sites to ensure that they are accessible and that the content is usable, reliable, and up-to-date, particularly as new, higher-level evidence becomes available.
authors.forename: Esma J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Doğramacı
authors.forename: Marco Aurelio
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Peres
authors.forename: Karen Glazer
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Peres
mesh_terms: D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D055094:Evidence-Based Dentistry; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000592:standards; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000209:etiology*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000592:standards
keywords: Breast-feeding; Internet; consumer health information; malocclusion; orthodontics; search engine