New Frontiers for Implementation Science in Oral Health: Digital and Equity-Driven Pathways

Area of Science:

• Oral health research
• Implementation science
• Public health

Background:

• Implementation science is increasingly applied in oral health, focusing on guideline adoption and deimplementation.
• Current applications are limited, overlooking crucial areas for intervention.
• Existing approaches often concentrate on provider behavior and individual barriers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To advocate for an expanded agenda in oral health implementation science.
• To integrate digital transformation, community-driven approaches, environmental sustainability, and address determinants like misinformation, commercial, and colonial influences.
• To apply an equity-driven and decolonial lens to understand intervention adoption and delivery.

Main Methods:

• Perspective article synthesizing current trends and proposing future directions.
• Analysis of power dynamics, trust, communication, governance, and structural inequities.
• Integration of an equity and decolonial framework.

Main Results:

• Implementation science in oral health requires moving beyond guideline uptake.
• Addressing structural factors like digital transformation, sustainability, and social determinants is crucial.
• Power, trust, and governance significantly influence intervention effectiveness and equity.

Conclusions:

• Implementation science can be a pathway to advance epistemic justice, sustainability, and structural change in oral health.
• A broader, equity-focused agenda will lead to more effective, sustainable, and just oral health systems worldwide.
• This reframing guides researchers and policymakers toward context-sensitive, participatory, and just oral health interventions.