Readability Analysis Of Patient Education Materials (Pem) On Dental Traumatology: A Bibliometric Analysis

Background: Patient education materials (PEMs) plays a crucial role in communicating essential information and supporting patient understanding in dental trauma management. However, evidence across medical and dental fields indicates that PEMs are often written above recommended readability levels, limiting patient comprehension. Methods: A cross-sectional bibliometric analysis was conducted on PEMs related to dental trauma obtained from official websites of international and national dental associations, dental trauma societies, and open-access oral health portals. Eligible materials (n = 52), published between 2000 and 2024, were independently evaluated by two calibrated reviewers. Readability was measured using the Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas. Bibliometric variables included year of publication, source organization, country of origin, and citation counts. Descriptive statistics, one-sample t-tests comparing FKGL scores with the sixth-grade benchmark, and Pearson correlation analyses were performed. Inter-rater reliability was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: The mean FKGL was 9.2 ± 1.1, and the mean FRE score was 54.8 ± 6.3. All PEMs exceeded the recommended sixth-grade reading level (p < 0.001). Materials from professional dental associations had significantly higher FKGL scores than those from public health agencies (9.8 vs 8.6; p = 0.01). Readability showed no significant association with year of publication or citation counts (p > 0.05). Inter-rater agreement was excellent (ICC = 0.95 for FKGL; 0.97 for FRE). Conclusions: Most publicly available dental traumatology PEMs are written above recommended readability levels, potentially limiting patient comprehension. Incorporating plain-language principles and health literacy expertise is essential to improve the effectiveness of patient education on dental trauma management.