SynthesisCommunity dentistry and oral epidemiology2025
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Dental Program Evaluations: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Community dentistry and oral epidemiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders: Mixed‑Methods Study Using Psychosocial Impact of a Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire.International dental journal · 2026Article
- The sociobiome-oral microbiome mediates dental caries among Indigenous Australians.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveOver the last 20 years, the disparity in oral health between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and other Australians has continued to grow. This suggests that further programmes and programme improvements are needed to reach equitable oral health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. This mixed methods systematic review aims to assess Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Dental Programme Evaluations by measuring outcomes and cultural safety via the Lowitja Institute Evaluation Framework to Improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health.
methodsDatabases searched were PubMed, Embase, Dentistry & Oral Sciences Source, Public Health Database and Scopus. All years were included. The date of the last search was the 1 May 2025. Published articles researching dental health programmes with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants in Australia were identified. Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods studies were included. The Joanna Briggs Institute approach to Mixed-Methods Systematic Reviews was followed, except for a deviation in critical appraisal, which utilised the Quality Assessment for Diverse Studies (QuADs) instead. This review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42025637868) a priori.
resultsThere were 54 studies included. New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia were the states with the most data. The research designs included qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods approaches. Most studies were of relatively high quality, as assessed by the QuADS criteria. Evaluations of dental programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities largely adhered to the Lowitja Framework, particularly in shared responsibility, partnerships and active engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their communities. Program effectiveness was primarily assessed through reductions in dental decay and participant feedback. Findings may be limited because the Lowitja Framework was developed via evaluation tenders, and the studies included were sourced from research articles.
conclusionsStrong partnerships between programs, evaluation teams and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are critical for cultural safety. Effective study designs should be used, and culturally relevant and holistic outcome measures should be chosen. Lessons learnt from this systematic review can be used to improve the effectiveness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dental programme evaluations.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic 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 Socratic graph.