Randomized Controlled Trials in Dentistry on Adolescents and Children: a Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to describe the main features of the top-cited randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in dentistry conducted among adolescents and children, to identify knowledge gaps, and to analyze the scientific impacts of the publications as measured by bibliometric data. Methods: An electronic literature search was conducted in the database Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection by two independent reviewers in June 2020, without an initial time limit. Only papers reporting on RCTs conducted among adolescents and children were included. The top 100 articles based on the citation density and the top 100 articles based on the total citation counts were selected and the bibliometric data were exported from WoS. The citation counts were cross-checked in Google Scholar as well. The Bibliometrix Biblioshiny R-package software was adopted to analyze and graphically map relevant bibliometric data. Results: After removal of duplicated, this study finally included 132 papers published in 28 journals reporting on RCTs which met the inclusion ctiteria. Most (n=79, 59.8%) of the included papers focused on the thematic field of Cariology investigating various interventions on dental caries. Other thematic fields were Orthodontology (20.5%), Endodontology (5.3%), Behaviour Science and Quality of Life (5.3%), Oral and Maxilloficial Surgery (3.8%), Oral Hygiene (3.8%) and Periodontology (1.5%). The USA was the country with which the largest number of corresponding authors (n=23, 17.4%) were affiliated, followed by the United Kingdom (10.6%) and the Netherlands (9.0%). International collaboration in conducting the included RCTs was limited. Conclusions: A wide range of dental topics were covered in the selected RCTs conducted among adolescents and children. These top-cited RCTs mainly focus on the thematic field of Cariology and the USA is an influential country with the largest number of published RCTs.