Top 100 most-cited oral health-related quality of life papers: Bibliometric analysis

Objective This study assessed the features of the 100 most-cited papers on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). Methods The 100 most-cited OHRQoL papers were collected from Web of Science, adopting a combined keyword search strategy. Google Scholar and Scopus databases were searched to compare citations. The following data were extracted from papers: title of the paper, number of citations, authorship, country, year of publication, title of the journal, study design, sample size, topic and OHRQoL instruments used. Graphical bibliometric networks were created using VOSviewer software. Results The number of citations of the top 100 most-cited OHRQoL papers ranged from 73 to 949. Fifty-six papers received at least 100 citations and two received more than 400 citations. Most papers were from Canada (23%) and had been published in Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology (37%). David Locker was the most-cited author (25 papers; 3,521 citations). The cross-sectional study design was the most common (68%). The impact of oral health conditions on OHRQoL (43%) was the most frequent topic, and the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) was the most commonly used OHRQoL instrument (48%). Conclusions This bibliometric analysis highlighted the characteristics of the 100 most-cited OHRQoL papers, demonstrating that this field is far from saturated. This list of the most-cited articles can provide a reference point to guide oral health research, education and services.