Perceived barriers in digitalizing oral health promotion: Phenomenological study among Malaysian dental public health specialists

Abstract

Abstract Aim: The ascent of digital health promotion, encompassing telemedicine, teledentistry, mHealth, eHealth, mOralHealth, and social media, underscores the necessity for its adoption in advancing health promotion. Identifying barriers in digitalizing health promotion aids in overcoming obstacles and facilitating the effective integration of digital technologies for improved healthcare and health outcomes. Hence, this study aims to identify barriers to digitalizing oral health promotion among Malaysian dental public health specialists. Materials and Methods: Eight dental public health specialists from different ministries in Malaysia participated in the interviews using semi-structured questionnaires. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using NVivo software. Results: Thematic analysis identified three major themes with 19 sub-themes, totaling 51 occurrences across the interviews. Among these three major themes, the availability of a supportive environment or infrastructure was the most discussed among the respondents. Among all sub-themes, respondents perceived those facilities, resources, and infrastructure (n = 6); and poor internet connection and stability (n = 6) as significant barriers to adopting and implementing digitalized oral health promotion. Conclusions: This study provides a distinctive contribution to stakeholders, offering insights into the impediments hindering dental students and professionals from embracing digital health promotion. The study findings can be utilized as a guide to facilitate the integration of digital dentistry and address the related issues within a broader context, guided by existing regulatory frameworks.