Protocol for scoping review on oral health equity barriers for immigrants in Canada and US

Oral health inequities among immigrants in Canada and the United States remain a major challenge due to systemic, cultural, and socioeconomic barriers that limit access to dental services. Despite existing community and policy initiatives, there is no comprehensive synthesis of evidence addressing barriers, facilitators, and interventions aimed at promoting oral health equity for these populations. The purpose of this scoping review is to identify and map barriers, facilitators, and interventions related to promoting oral health equity among immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and non-permanent residents in Canada and the United States. The review will include studies involving immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and non-permanent residents living in Canada or the United States that examine barriers, facilitators, or interventions related to oral health equity. Peer-reviewed studies and relevant grey literature published in English will be considered without date restrictions. Studies focusing exclusively on non-migrant populations or not addressing oral health will be excluded. This protocol follows the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for scoping reviews and the PRISMA-ScR reporting guidelines and is registered on the Open Science Framework (OSF) https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/PDNEM Searches will be conducted in MEDLINE (PubMed), Scopus, Web of Science, EBSCO databases, Embase, and relevant grey literature sources. Two reviewers will independently screen studies and extract data. Quantitative data will be summarized descriptively, and qualitative findings will undergo thematic synthesis. Results will be presented in tables and narrative summaries. Ethical approval is not required as the review uses published literature. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations to inform policy and future research.