Data-Based Analysis of Dental Research Trends Before and After COVID-19 Pandemic

Year 2026, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 26 - 40, 29.01.2026

Çiğdem Atalayın Özkaya , Dilek Akın , Eylül Özgel , Mehmet Resat Atilgan

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the research trends in the field of dentistry through scientific database for the whole global scale, Turkey regionally and Ege University scope within a five year period including the interval before and after COVID-19 pandemic.
Materials and Methods: The searches and analysis was performed using SciVal (Elsevier, Amsterdam, Netherlands) database in the period of 2017-2021 including subject title, related subtopics, the scientific journals, the categories of the journals, the impact values, the number of publications and citations in general world via ‘general dentistry’, ‘dentistry (miscellaneous)’ and ‘dental hygiene’ subtopics. Then the searches were customized for Turkey and Ege University.
Results: The most studied subjects in general world were determined as; tooth-bone-dentin, oral health-periodontitis-dental caries, orthodontics-malocclusion-temporamandibular joint, cleft lip/palate-craniocytosis and mandibular fractures-orbital fracture-injuries. The most frequently used keywords in the general dentistry were as respectively; teeth, dental caries and oral-health. Among the studies conducted in Turkey, the most preferred subjects were listed as; tooth-bone-dentin, orthodontics-malocclusion-temporamandibular joint, oral health-periodontitis-tooth decay, cleft lip-palate-craniocytosis, mandible fracture-orbital fracture-injuries. The keyword ‘COVID-19’ appears prominently under the wordcloud of ‘general dentistry’ and ‘dentistry (miscellaneous) themes. The most frequently studied subjects within the scope of Ege University were respectively as; tooth-bone-dentin, oral health-periodontitis-dental caries, orthodontics-malocclusion-temporamandibular joint, cleft palate-cleft lip-craniocytosis and odontogenic tumor-ameloblastoma-odontogenic cyst.
Conclusions: It is noteworthy that ‘dental caries’ is still one of the most studied scientific areas a result of the database analysis. The keyword ‘COVID-19’ has been arised. The research trends of Ege University and Turkey seem to parallel with those of the world.

Keywords

databases , bibliographic , dentistry , research activities , COVID-19

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