Oral health interventions for UK-based Bengali children and their families: a scoping review protocol

Objective: This review will synthesize existing evidence on oral health interventions developed for Bengali children in the UK and identify the application of behavior change frameworks to their culture. Introduction: Despite improvements in children’s oral health over the past half-century, a higher percentage of Bengali children experience dental caries than other ethnicities in the UK. The experience of dental caries is strongly shaped by oral health behaviors, including parental attitudes, traditional dietary practices, and cultural beliefs about teeth. Certain oral health interventions incorporate behavior change frameworks and techniques, but little is known about their application to different cultures, in particular, the Bengali culture. This scoping review will address these research gaps by synthesizing evidence on oral health interventions developed for UK-based Bengali children and their families. Eligibility criteria: This review will consider all study types presenting an oral health behavior intervention, including diet, toothbrushing, and dental service utilization, for Bengali children and their families in the UK. Interventions will be assessed for the use of behavior change frameworks, intervention target and deliverer, and cultural consideration. This review will include full-text studies from the UK only, published in English. Methods: This review will follow the JBI methodology for scoping reviews. MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews will be searched. Two reviewers will independently screen sources for eligibility. Methodological quality will be assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Review registration: OSF https://osf.io/mrn27