A bibliometeric analysis of dental zirconia. Where do we stand?

Zirconia is among the most researched material in the dental field and the number of studies is steadily increasing year by year.62 - This study assessed the features of the most cited and the most recent papers in the field of dental zirconia. The 100 most-cited dental zirconia articles were collected from Web of Science, adopting a combined keyword search strategy. Google Scholar and Scopus databases were searched to compare citations. Other Keywords were also used "zirconia, dental ceramics" to manually check for other related articles. The following data were extracted from papers: title of the paper, number of citations, number of references, authorship, country, publication year, and title of the journal, type of study, abstract, and limitation of studies and topics addressed. Graphical bibliometric networks were created using Python, Power BI and VOS viewer software. The number of citations of the top cited dental zirconia papers ranged from 154 to 1199. The highest cited article was a review of literature addressing the machining and clinical performance of zirconia. Seven papers received at least 500 citations and only one study received more than 1000 citations. Most papers were from Germany (31%) followed by USA (30%) and had been published in Dental Materials (32%) followed by Journal of prosthodontics dentistry (14%). Irena Sailer was the most-productive author (8 papers; 2,446 citations). The laboratory study design was the most common with (68%) followed by reviews with (22%). Among the citation classifications, the background of the studies was the most cited part. The Mechanical properties and bonding of zirconia were the most frequent topics, while additive manufacturing and cost-effectiveness were the least, however in the last two years implants, biological behavior and additive manufacturing were the most popular. The most recent publication in the top 100 papers was a randomized control trail in 2020 to study bacterial and biological behavior around zirconia crowns in children. In the last two years, the publications around the topic of zirconia implants, zirconia printing and biological behavior has gradually increased; making the most of the top cited articles with some articles studying the effect of sandblasting on zirconia and more clinical studies. This bibliometric analysis highlighted the characteristics of the most cited and most recent dental zirconia papers, demonstrating that this topic is well established but yet saturated. This analysis can provide a reference point to past research, potential and limitations. It provides guidance and insights for future research in the field.