Background:
People living with clinically severe obesity experience significant barriers when accessing oral healthcare, including weight stigma, inaccessible environments and inadequate clinician training. Within dentistry, these barriers contribute to delayed care, poorer oral health outcomes and negative patient experiences. There are currently no evidence-based frameworks that guide Australian dental services in providing weight-inclusive care and implement research evaluating weight stigma in the dental setting.
Aims:
To describe the research protocol for Inclusi-dent, a co-designed initiative that will develop and evaluate Australia's first comprehensive weight-inclusive dental care framework.
Methods:
Inclusi-dent will use a mixed-methods, co-design approach informed by implementation science principles. The project will comprise four phases: (1) synthesis of existing evidence regarding obesity, oral health and weight stigma in dental settings; (2) stakeholder engagement with people living with obesity, dental professionals, tertiary dental education providers, and relevant advocacy organisations to identify barriers and priorities; (3) co-design workshops to develop the Inclusi-dent framework, incorporating environmental accessibility, clinical recommendations, communication guidance and educational resources; and (4) pilot implementation within selected dental services to assess feasibility, acceptability and implementation outcomes. Initial concept development has been positively received through consultation at the Weight Issues Network (WIN) Community Meet-Up, supporting the perceived need for a practical resource to improve inclusion within dental services. The project is expected to produce a scalable framework that enables dental practices to identify and address barriers to equitable care for people living with obesity. Planned evaluation will examine clinician confidence, organisational readiness and patient-reported experience measures following implementation.
Conclusion:
The Inclusi-dent research project proposes to address a recognised gap between obesity research and oral health clinical practice by translating evidence into an implementable framework for dentistry. Through co-design with consumers, clinicians, academics and policy makers in the dental profession, the project aims to improve inclusion, reduce weight stigma and support equitable oral healthcare for people living with clinically severe obesity.