Table 1 Search strategy across four databases

PubMed

(((((((((((dental health) OR (oral health)) OR (oral health care))) AND (disparity)) OR (disparities)) OR (inequality)) OR (inequalities)) OR (inequity)) AND (india)

EMBASE

(((‘dental health’/exp OR ‘dental health’ OR oral) AND (‘health’/exp OR health) OR ‘oral health care’/exp OR ‘oral health care’) AND (‘disparity’/exp OR ‘disparity’) OR ‘disparities’/exp OR ‘disparities’ OR ‘inequalities’/exp OR ‘inequalities’ OR ‘inequality’/exp OR inequality OR inequity) AND (‘india’/exp OR ‘india’) AND [english]/lim AND ([embase]/lim OR [medline]/lim)

Web of Science

((((((((ALL=(oral health)) OR ALL=(dental health)) OR ALL=(oral health care)) AND ALL=(disparity)) OR ALL=(disparities)) OR ALL=(inequality)) OR ALL=(inequalities)) OR ALL=(inequity)) AND ALL=(India) and Public Environmental Occupational Health or Multidisciplinary Sciences or Environmental Sciences or Infectious Diseases or Surgery or Medical Informatics or Education Scientific Disciplines or Medicine General Internal or Health Policy Services or Social Sciences Biomedical or Health Care Sciences Services or Geography or Demography or Women S Studies or Area Studies or Pediatrics or Social Issues or Ethnic Studies or Cultural Studies or Pathology or Primary Health Care (Web of Science Categories) and English (Languages)

Scopus

( ALL ( oral AND health OR dental AND health OR oral AND health AND care )  AND ALL ( disparity OR disparities OR inequality OR inequalities OR inequity )  AND ALL ( india ) )  AND PUBYEAR  >  2001  AND PUBYEAR  <  2023  AND  ( LIMIT-TO ( LANGUAGE ,  “English” ) )