Sixty years of research in dental age estimation: a bibliometric study

Abstract

Background: Dental age estimation (DAE) research has grown rapidly and became one of the biggest topics in forensic odontology. This study aimed to evaluate the DAE research trends over the span of 60 years using bibliometric analysis. Methods: Sampling was performed in the Scopus database using a search string (“Dental Age Estimation” OR “Age Determination by Teeth”) to detect DAE-related studies. The search was performed from inception to the year 2022. A data-cleaning intervention using a fuzzy-matching technique was done to unify the author and affiliation name variations. Results: The initial search returned 1638 articles, years of publication ranging from 1964 to 2022, with an approximate growth rate of 5.9% a year. Source analysis showed that most of the top article sources were Forensic Science International (n = 200). Cameriere R presents the overall highest score (77 articles, Local h-index 30). Authors from Shanghai Jiao Tong University produced the highest number of publications (n = 111). The most locally cited study was “A New System of Dental Age Assessment” by Demirjian et al. (Hum Biol 45:211-227, 1973) (n = 1507). The trending topics analysis shows that earlier DAE studies were focused on dental regressive changes and later changed focus to utilizing technological advancements. Institutions and Author's collaborations were also found to be internationally diverse with 20.82% of the articles being a product of international co-authorships. Conclusions: DAE research has grown rapidly helped by multiple advancements in various technological ends. Along with the high demand for DAE analysis, authors and publishers need to continually improve their standards for their respective research and reporting and continue to increase collaboration.