Unmet Oral Health Needs and Barriers to Dental Services among Socially Marginalized Youth: A Scoping Review

Pranav Mahesh Vaishampayan Jaskaran Singh Beniwal Piotr Wilk Sarah McLean Abbas Jessani ^*

• Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Canada

Objectives: Limited access to oral healthcare significantly impacts dental service utilization among socially marginalized youth, often leading to unmet needs and poor oral health outcomes. Identifying these barriers is crucial for developing effective strategies to improve access to care for this vulnerable population. This review explores the key barriers restricting oral healthcare access and unmet dental needs among socially marginalized youth worldwide, providing insights to guide targeted interventions.Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted across electronic databases, including PubMed, MEDLINE (Ovid), Scopus, and the Cochrane Library. Two independent reviewers screened primary studies, regardless of publication year, that examined barriers to oral healthcare access and unmet dental needs among socially marginalized youth. Studies published in languages other than English were excluded. Discrepancies in study selection were resolved through consensus. The CLARITY tool was used to assess the risk of bias in the included studies.Results:Of the 484 studies identified, seven met the inclusion criteria (six quantitative and one qualitative). Key barriers limiting dental care access included financial constraints, structural challenges, and psychological factors. Among the selected studies, three were conducted in the United States, two in Australia, and one each in the United Kingdom and Kenya. Financial and structural barriers were reported in four studies each, while one study highlighted psychological barriers. A high prevalence of unmet dental needs was observed among socially marginalized youth, with conditions such as dental caries (n=3), missing teeth (n=2), periodontal disease (n=1), tooth pain (n=1), and dental infections (n=1). However, the generalizability of these findings is limited due to small sample sizes and methodological weaknesses, underscoring the need for more robust and diverse research.Conclusion: This scoping review highlights significant research gaps regarding access to oral healthcare and dental service utilization among socially marginalized youth. Targeted oral health initiatives are necessary to address disparities and improve dental care access, ultimately reducing oral health inequalities in this vulnerable population.