Bibliometric Analysis of the Knowledge Landscape of Periodontal Disease in Pregnancy: A Noteworthy Multidisciplinary Issue

Abstract

Background

Pregnant women are highly susceptible to periodontal disease due to changes in hormonal and immune levels, which places a huge burden on the healthcare system and requires multidisciplinary interventions. This study aimed to assess the scientific profile and research trends related to periodontal disease in pregnancy through a bibliometric approach.

Methods

Publications about periodontal disease in pregnancy from 2000 to 2022 were extracted from Science Citation Index Expanded. The knowledge networks of countries, institutions, authors, journals, references, and keywords in this field were constructed using the Citespace, VOSviewer, Bibliometrix, and BIBLIOMETRIC.COM platforms. Furthermore, correlations between the characteristics of countries and the number or impact of publications were analyzed.

Results

1162 original studies and reviews were included. There was a trend toward increased publications and citations in this field. The United States had the highest academic productivity and impact by a significant margin, while correlation analyses indicated that economic power may correlate with national scientific activity. The University of North Carolina and Offenbacher S were the most influential institution and author, respectively, taking center stage in the collaborative networks. However, only several loose connections between countries or institutions were identified in the global collaborative network analysis. Six of the top ten most productive journals were in Q1 in the Journal Citation Report, and there was intensive interaction between different research subfields, such as immunology, molecular biology, and microbiology. Frontier topics were primarily clustered in two areas: (1) oral microbiology, such as microbiome, oral bacteria, and Fusobacterium nucleatum; and (2) public health, such as quality of life, pregnancy outcomes, oral health, obesity, and classification.

Conclusion

Since 2000, periodontal disease in pregnancy is receiving increasingly widespread attention and is rapidly evolving at a multidisciplinary level. Oral microbiological pathogenesis and public health impact-related research deserve more exploration and may be the future direction of research. Enhanced Collaboration and interdisciplinary communication may further facilitate progress in this discipline.

Keywords:

• bibliometric analysis
• periodontal disease
• pregnancy
• multidisciplinary issue
• oral microbiology
• public health

Abbreviations

SCIE, Science Citation Index Extension; SCP, single-country publications; MCP, multinational publications; GDP, gross domestic product.

Data Sharing Statement

The datasets presented in this study can be found in online repositories.

Ethics Approval and Informed Consent

This study did not include any patient information. Thus, the requirement for ethics approval was waived.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (No. 22077120), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2019M660715).

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.