Mapping Geographic Inequities of Dental Clinics Using a Mobile-Based Geospatial Platform: Evidence from a Mid-Sized Urban Setting

Background: Geographic inequities in access to oral healthcare services remain a persistent challenge across health systems worldwide. In many settings where private outpatient care predominates, the absence of comprehensive, spatially explicit data on healthcare facility distribution limits evidence-based planning and equitable resource allocation. Aim: To demonstrate the feasibility of using a mobile-based, open-access platform to develop a geospatial inventory of dental clinics and to examine spatial distribution patterns within a representative mid-sized urban setting. Methods: A cross-sectional geospatial survey was conducted over one month in an urban city. Real-time data on dental clinic location and attributes were collected using a smartphone-based application with automatic GPS tagging. Spatial visualization and descriptive analysis were used to identify clustering patterns and service gaps. Results: A total of 165 dental clinics were mapped. Clinics were disproportionately concentrated in central commercial and mixed-use zones, while peripheral urban areas accounted for a small proportion of facilities. The spatial pattern revealed clear inequities in service availability across the urban continuum. Conclusion: Mobile-based geospatial mapping provides a scalable, low-cost approach to documenting private dental healthcare infrastructure. Such methods can enhance health system visibility, support equity-oriented planning, and inform decentralization strategies in comparable urban settings globally.