Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted Facilitators and barriers to the adoption of teledentistry in Saudi Arabia from the care providers' perspectives. A systematic review(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Hakami, Amjad; Mohan, SarikaBackground: Teledentistry has emerged as a tool that holds great potential to enhance access, efficiency, and continuity of oral healthcare delivery. In Saudi Arabia, its adoption is important in the context of the health transformation programme and Vision 2030, in addition to the high prevalence of dental caries, especially among schoolchildren. Despite this potential, adoption is still limited. In this context, there is a need to systematically assess the factors influencing its adoption from the care providers’ perspectives. Objectives: This review aimed to systematically identify the facilitators and barriers to the adoption of teledentistry in Saudi Arabia, with the focus on the perception of dental care providers and dental students. Methods: A systematic review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020 with narrative synthesis based on SWiM guidelines. PubMed, SCOPUS, Medline, Embase, and CINAHL databases were searched, covering publications up to 4th July 2025. The PICO framework was used to define the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the CASP checklist was used to assess study quality. Data were synthesised using vote counting by direction of effect, categorising findings into facilitators and barriers. Results: After screening 156 records, 11 studies met the inclusion criteria. Study quality ranged from 7-11/11 based on the CASP checklist for cross-sectional studies. Key findings included facilitators such as improved access, efficiency and cost-effectiveness, communication and referral enhancements, educational benefits, and positive perception of technology. The key barriers were limited awareness and training, infrastructure and equipment reliability, privacy and data security, cost and financial issues, diagnostic accuracy, and the preference for in-person meetings. Conclusion: Teledentistry holds great potential, but its adoption is still limited in Saudi Arabia. Addressing the challenges that hinder adoption and empowering the facilitators that support it is important to ensure successful adoption. Improving infrastructure, enhancing training and integration into dental curricula, and strengthening regulatory frameworks are essential to ensure equitable adoption.12 0Item Restricted Dental Care Utilization and Oral Diseases Among US Older Adults with Depressive Symptoms and Difficulty with Physical Functioning(2023-04) Farraj, Malik; Alqaderi, HendObjectives: The aim of this study was to 1) assess the prevalence and trends of dental care utilization among US older adults≥65, and 2) determine the associations between dental care utilization and self-reported depressive symptoms and difficulty in physical functioning. Methods: This study was a secondary data analysis of a US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data, 2011-2018, a nationally representative health survey conducted in the United States (n=5434). Chi square analysis was conducted to describe dental care utilization among older adults ≥65 with five indicator variables (age, gender, race/ethnicity, educational level, and ratio of family income to poverty). Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the associations between dental care utilization and 1) self-reported depressive symptoms (no symptoms, mild, and moderate to severe symptoms), and 2) difficulty in physical functioning (LEM: Lower extremity mobility, GPA: General physical activities, IADL: Instrumental activities of daily living, ADL: Activities of daily living and LSA: Leisure and social activities). Results: For older adults with difficulty in physical functioning and those who reported depressive symptoms, the lowest prevalence of dental care utilization was in males, NH-Blacks, individuals with a lower ratio of family income to poverty (≤1.35) and with less than a high school degree. Among those who have difficulty in physical functioning, the prevalence of dental care utilization was highest among older adults ≥65 in the GPA domain 61.99% (95% CI: 58.99-65.00) and lowest was in the LSA domain 52.23% (95% CI: 48.08-56.39). From 2011 to 2018, there was an overall increase in dental care utilization in all physical function domains; LEM (55.96%-65.76%), GPA (58.46%-66.09%), IADL (53.67%-62.53%), ADL (52.87%-62.09%), LSA (49.62%-59.73%). There was statistically significant lower odds of utilizing dental services during the past year compared to people who didn’t have difficulties in physical functioning [IADL (AOR: 0.68, 95% CI (0.58-0.81)), ADL (AOR: 0.75, 95% CI (0.6-0.91)), GPA (AOR: 0.63, 95% CI (0.52-0.75)) and LSA (AOR: 0.59, 95% CI (0.48-0.73))] The prevalence of dental care utilization in individuals with depressive symptoms was lowest among older adults aged 65 and above who were in the moderate-severe depression group (50.53%). There was an overall increase in dental care utilization in all groups of depressive symptoms between 2011 to 2018; no symptoms (66.92%-70.45%), mild depression (57.60%-68.81%) and moderate to severe depression (49.19%-54.94%). People who had moderate to severe depression had statistically significant lower odds of utilizing dental services during the past year compared to people who didn’t have symptoms of depression (AOR: 0.63, 95% CI (0.45-0.91)) Conclusions: Although dental care utilization increased between 2011 and 2018 for older adults aged ≥65 years with self-reported depressive symptoms and difficulty with physical functioning, disparities persisted among different race groups, those with lower educational levels, and those with lower ratios of family income to poverty. These groups face significant challenges in accessing and utilizing dental care, and as such, may require tailored strategies to increase their utilization of dental services.14 0