Table 3. Summary of published research articles identified in the scoping review (1969–2005).

Author; Year/ Country	University/ Institution	Type of publications	Program description	Outcome variable/ Measurement instrument	Results
Podshadley AG, et al.; 1969/ USA [41] Heise AL, et al., 1973/ USA [42]	University of Kentucky	Original research report	“Community Clinical Laboratory” as 6 hours’ course for final year dental students providing comprehensive dental care for rural children with mobile dental units	Effect on oral health status, cost-effectiveness, and students’ competencies/Oral examination, cost analysis, questionnaire	Improved children’s oral health status Students had positive and new learning experience Cost-effective compared to private practice
Kurtzman C, et al.; 1974 [88]	University of California at Los Angeles and University of Southern California	Original research report	Mobile Dental Project for agriculture workers’ children in rural southern California by dental and dental hygiene students from all classes	Effect on oral health services/Descriptive measurement	Improved oral health care services Successful met their oral health-related needs
McMillan WB, et al.; 1975 [35]	University of Minnesota	Original research	Summer rural dental externship program for third-year dental students	Students’ competencies; dentists’ and students’ satisfaction/Pre-and post-questionnaires	Dental students’ positive attitude and preference for rural practice Most aspects for satisfaction were rated above average and excellent by dentists and students
Bentley JM, et al.; 1983/ USA [68]	University of Pennsylvania	Original research (experimental study)	Rural Dental Health Program for rural children randomly assigned to school-based practice group and private practitioners’ group that was further divided into improved dental health program and regular health program.	Comparing utilization of services by children over three years/Descriptive measurement	Increased dental service utilization by children assigned to school-based practice group offering improved dental health program in contrast to other groups
Feldman CA, et al.; 1988/ USA [69]	University of Pennsylvania	Follow up study	Follow up of the Rural Dental Health Program by Bentley JM, et al.; 1983 [68], evaluated seven years after the funding ended	Long-term evaluation after seven years/Health and oral health-related indices	Children assigned to community group utilized more professional services and showed more dental knowledge compared to another group with reduced service utilization when project ended
Shreve WB, et al., 1989/ USA [44]	University of Florida (contract basis with Lafayette-Suwannee Rural Health Corporation, Inc.)	Original research	Extramural 2-weeks dental education program for dental students	Impact on education, research and services/In-house and external evaluation and surveys	Met curricular guidelines and educational objectives of the American Association of Dental Schools Offered good educational experience for dental students Provided comprehensive oral services for rural population and improved their oral health knowledge
Author; Year/ Country	University/ Institution	Type of publications	Program description	Outcome variable/ Measurement instrument	Results
Burger AD, et al.; 1997/ USA [65]	Youngstown State University	Original research	Dental Disease Prevention and Early Intervention Program to train dental hygiene students and provide essential services to rural population: senior dental hygiene students worked in pairs with supervision of dentist using a mobile dental unit	Change in oral health service provision and students’ attitude and experience/Descriptive measurement and survey questionnaire	Mostly preventive and simple restorative dental services were provided Students reported positive experience Improved competencies and social sensitization
Pacza T, et al.; 2001/ Australia [59]	University of Western Australia	Original research (pilot program)	Oral health training program for rural and remote Aboriginal health workers to implement a culturally sensitive preventive oral health care delivery program	Attitude of health workers/Questionnaires and focus group discussions	Gained pleasant experience and willingness to administer the long-run preventive program
Kaakko T, et al.; 2002/ USA [74]	University of Washington	Original research (randomized clinical trial)	Access to Baby and Child Dentistry (ABCD) program involving Medicaid- enrolled children in rural Stevens County compared with children who had regular benefits	Assessment of oral health status, utilization rate and expenditure for Medicaid-enrolled children compared to children with regular benefits/Oral examination and descriptive measurement	Significantly improved oral health and utilization rates among ABCD children No cost difference between 2 groups
Richards L, et al.; 2002/ Australia [79]	University of Adelaide	Clinical report	Final year dental students posted in rural public dental service clinics at Whyalla and Port Augusta	Cost and benefits analysis/Evaluation of the effect on the waiting list, cost per patient during the course and marginal cost	Reduced waiting list and increased number of patients Services provided by students or private providers were more valued, and total cost of the treatment provided by students was found to be greater than public-sector dentists but less than private providers
Mouradian WE, et al.; 2003 [11]	University of Washington	Original research	Interdisciplinary Children’s Oral Health Promotion Project at University affiliated Family Practice Residency Network to train family medicine residents	Residents competencies and their ratings for instructors/Questionnaires	Improved family medicine residents’ competencies Residents evaluated course quality and instructors’ skills as ‘very good’
Gonsalves WC, et al., 2004/ USA [60]	University of Kentucky	Original research	Physicians’ oral health education for family medicine residents on children’s oral health screening, risk assessment, and counseling	Competencies of residents/Pre-test and post-test survey questionnaires	Improved knowledge, attitude, self- efficacy, and basic oral health care skills of family medicine residents
Author; Year/ Country	University/ Institution	Type of publications	Program description	Outcome variable/ Measurement instrument	Results
Woronuk JI, et al.; 2004/ Canada [37]	University of Alberta	Original research	Satellite dental program for third and final year dental students	Students’ evaluation by supervising dentists based on four categories: knowledge of preparatory phase, delivery of procedures, patient management and maintenance of infection control standards/Grading scales (1–4 for first three categories and 1 or 2 for fourth category)	Most students fulfilled their treatment objectives and were highly motivated with improved clinical competencies
Elkind A, et al.; 2005/ UK [51]	University of Manchester	Original research (pilot project)	Pilot outreach program for final year dental students in restorative dentistry and clinical sessions at the dental hospital	Students’ competencies/ Questionnaire	Outreach and clinical sessions benefitted each other: Outreach sessions offered treatment planning, emergency care, improved clinical experiences and time management skills whereas clinical sessions offered specialized teaching and improved their clinical competencies
Parker EJ, et al.; 2005/ Australia [82]	University of Adelaide	Preliminary project report	The culturally-sensitive oral health program for the Aboriginal community in Port Augusta—first phase in partnership (with Pika Wiya Health Service, South Australian center for rural and remote health and South Australian Dental service)	Community acceptance and change in the demand for services/Descriptive measurement	Accepted by the community with immediate demand for services Successful implementation of dental care service by recruiting its own dentist, dental assistant, and Aboriginal health worker