Can ChatGPT Really Guide Parents and Dentists in Pediatric Dentistry?
Exploring the strengths and limits of AI-generated dental information for children’s oral health
Why Parents Turn to ChatGPT for Children’s Dental Questions
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT are increasingly used as quick sources of health information. For busy parents who want immediate answers about their child’s teeth—such as fluoride safety, tooth eruption, or dental injuries ChatGPT may seem like a convenient digital assistant.
But how reliable is this information? Can ChatGPT truly support parents and dental professionals in pediatric dentistry?
What Did the Researchers Aim to Find Out?
The study aimed to assess whether ChatGPT-generated answers are:
Accurate and high-quality
Easy to read and understand
Original and not overly similar to existing sources
Importantly, the researchers compared two types of content:
Questions commonly asked by parents or caregivers
Academic-level questions relevant to dental education
The focus areas included:
Dental trauma
Fluoride use
Tooth eruption and general oral health in children
How Was the Study Conducted?
Researchers asked 180 questions in total to ChatGPT-3.5, without using advanced prompt engineering reflecting how most people naturally interact with AI tools.
The answers were then evaluated by experienced pediatric dentists using:
Modified Global Quality Scale (GQS) to assess information quality
Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level to measure readability
Similarity Index (Turnitin) to evaluate originality and potential overlap with existing literature
What Did the Study Find?
1. Strong Performance for Parent-Focused Questions
ChatGPT performed better when answering questions from parents than academic questions.
Parent-related answers received high quality scores, suggesting the information was generally accurate and useful.
Topics such as tooth eruption and fluoride were handled relatively well.
2. Academic Questions Remain a Challenge
When answering academic or technical questions:
Quality scores were significantly lower, especially for dental trauma.
The AI struggled with complex, case-specific concepts that require clinical expertise.
3. Readability: Too Complex for Many Parents
Although the answers were informative, readability tests showed that:
Most responses were written at a college-level reading difficulty.
This means the content may be hard to understand for many parents, particularly those without a health or science background.
4. Acceptable Originality
The similarity analysis showed:
Low to moderate overlap with existing sources
No significant plagiarism concerns
This suggests ChatGPT generally produces original text, even when discussing well-established dental topics.
Why Do These Findings Matter?
Parents often search online for immediate advice when their child experiences dental pain, injury, or tooth eruption issues. While ChatGPT can provide quick and generally reliable information, this study highlights several important cautions:
AI should not replace professional dental consultation
Information may be accurate but too complex for the average reader
Academic or clinical decisions should not rely solely on AI-generated answers
Key Takeaway: Helpful, But Not a Substitute for Dentists
ChatGPT shows strong potential as a supportive information tool in pediatric dentistry especially for general parental questions. However, its limitations in readability and academic depth mean it should be used with caution.
For now, the safest approach is to view ChatGPT as:
A supplementary guide not an authority especially when children’s oral health is involved.
Original Article Reference
Bayraktar Nahir, C. (2025). Can ChatGPT be guide in pediatric dentistry? BMC Oral Health, 25, 9.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-024-05393-1