ArticleBDJ open2026
Domiciliary dental care: a scoping review of the literature.
Article in BDJ open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimDomiciliary dental care is the provision of dental care for those patients who are unable to attend a clinic due to a disability or impairment. This scoping review aimed to identify developments in the literature regarding the provision of adult domiciliary dental care. MATERIALS AND
methodsThe Arksey and O'Malley framework was used and findings were reported in line with PRISMA-ScR. Subject specific library support was used to produce a search strategy using MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) terms and key words to identify studies published in English between January 2009 and October 2025 relevant to the topic area. Database searching of Medline, Embase, PsycINFO and CINAHL was conducted alongside hand searching.
resultsIn total, 45 primary research papers were included. Study types included qualitative research, observational studies and economic evaluations. Key themes identified included patient and staff reported barriers, facilitators to enable or improve domiciliary dental care and the role of dental team skill mix and education. DISCUSSION: There is currently an absence of rigorous research into dental care in domiciliary settings, likely due to ethical, financial and logistical complexity of undertaking research in this area. Research that has currently been undertaken is mainly focused on older patients living in care facilities.
conclusionsDomiciliary dental care is an essential service for patients unable to attend a dental clinic due to a significant disability or impairment. Whilst a formal quality assessment of individual studies is not carried out in scoping review methodology, the results of this review identified a number of barriers to its provision. Appropriate risk assessment, education and the effective use of technology were identified as possible facilitators. Further research is needed to enable the provision of evidence-based care to this vulnerable population.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.