Oral Health Research in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region between 2014 and 2024: a scoping review protocol

<ns3:p>Background Oral health is fundamental to general health and well-being, yet it remains a neglected priority in health systems, particularly within the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). Oral diseases affect an estimated 330 million people (46.5%) across the region, driven by unaddressed risk factors, inequalities, and weak integration into the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) agendas. Despite this high burden, oral health initiatives to address this burden and prioritize the oral research agenda remain limited. This scoping review represents the first comprehensive effort to systematically map and identify the status of Oral Health Research (OHR), including scope, output, and collaboration within the WHO EMR (hereafter, EMR) between 2014 and 2024. Methods A comprehensive search strategy was developed in Ovid MEDLINE and translated into Embase, Cochrane Library, and Epistemonikos, and will be applied to global and regional databases. Searching covers January 2014 to December 2024 without language restrictions. Eligible studies will include primary and secondary research covering clinical, public health, and health systems research. Excluded will be in vitro, in vivo, case reports, protocols, editorials, and commentaries. Screening and data extraction will be managed using DistillerSR software. Extracted data will be analyzed in RStudio, using descriptive statistics, collaboration mapping, and interactive visualization. Discussion This scoping review will provide the first comprehensive mapping of OHR across the EMR. The review will highlight oral health research strengths and gaps at regional and country-specific levels by examining research topics, study designs, funding sources, and collaboration patterns. These findings will guide policymakers, researchers, and academic schools and institutions to prioritize the OHR agenda and inform the development and enactment of oral health policies. Results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, conference abstracts, and regional interest-holders engagement. Registration The protocol is registered with the Open Science Framework (OSF): https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/MXWKC.</ns3:p>