Teledentistry for dental caries screening and preventive care in children and adolescents: a global scoping review

Dental caries is the most common chronic disease among children worldwide. Despite being largely preventable, disparities in access to care persist, particularly in low-resource and rural settings. Teledentistry offers a promising approach to bridge this gap by enabling remote screening, diagnosis, and preventive interventions. This scoping review aims to synthesize global evidence on the application of teledentistry for pediatric caries screening and preventive care, identifying implementation strategies, diagnostic accuracy, and challenges across diverse settings. This scoping review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology and the Preferred reporting system for systematic review and meta-analysis for scoping review (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. A systematic search was conducted across four electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science) and gray literature sources from January 2015 till 31 May 2025. Studies were included if they focused on teledentistry for caries screening/prevention in children (0–18 years). Data were extracted using a standardized form. A narrative synthesis was performed, supported by tabular and visual summaries of key findings. Twenty-three studies were included from dental settings in high- and low-middle-income countries. Teledentistry demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy for caries detection, with store-and-forward and mobile health (mHealth) modalities showing sensitivity (44%–98.3%) and specificity (58%–100%). Non-dental personnel achieved reliable results post-training. Preventive applications, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven apps and school-based programs, improved oral health knowledge and access, particularly in underserved areas. Teledentistry is a promising tool for pediatric caries management, offering scalable solutions for early detection and prevention. However, equitable implementation requires addressing digital disparities, standardizing training, and fostering policy support. The pre-designed protocol for this review was established and registered in the Open Science Network (Reg. No. osf.io/fs56z).