A spatiotemporal comparison of Google search trends between root canal treatment and tooth extraction: A descriptive study

Background: Google trends (GT) is a comparative keyword research website that may be used for the investigation of search trends involving individuals seeking dental health services. This study aimed to compare the search trends between tooth extraction (TE) and root canal treatment (RCT) in the Philippines from 2004-2022. Methods: GT was used to compare the keywords “tooth extraction” or TE and “root canal treatment” or RCT. The Philippines was chosen as the country, focusing on sub-region. Timeline of data observed was from the year 2004 to 2022, category is under Health with web search as database. Results: The search trends for both keywords peaked in the same year, wherein TE peaked last February 2004 with 96%. In comparison, the search for RCT peaked last May 2004 with a higher percentage of 100%. However, overall search for TE still showed a higher percentage of searches from 2010 to 2022 compared to RCT. Discussion: The search for TE shows significantly higher results compared to RCT searches from 2004-2022 in the Philippines. Conclusions: When compared to RCT, tooth extraction attracted more attention from Filipinos based on web searches. Despite the fact that RCT searches peaked in popularity in May 2004.