Tooth Bleaching: A bibliometric analysis of the top 100 most-cited papers

This study analyzes the characteristics of the top 100 most-cited papers related to tooth bleaching. A literature search was performed on the Web of Science up to March 2022. The number of citations was cross-matched with the citation count on Scopus and Google Scholar. The following data were collected: number and density of citations; authorship; year and journal of publication; study design and thematic; keywords; institution and country of origin. Spearman’s correlation and Poisson regression were used to determine associations between the number of citations and study characteristics. The VOSviewer software was used to generate collaborative network maps for the authors and keywords. The number of citations ranged from 66 to 450. Papers were published between 1981 and 2020. The most frequent study design and topic were laboratory-based studies and ‘interaction of the bleaching agent with dental tissues’, respectively. Cochran M, Loguercio AD, Matis B, Reis A, and Suliman M were the authors with the highest number of papers. The countries with the most papers were the United States of America (USA) (28%) and Brazil (20%). Indiana University and State University of Ponta Grossa were the institutions with the most papers (6% each). There was a very strong correlation among the number of citations of the three databases. The 100 most-cited papers related to tooth bleaching were mainly published by the USA and Brazil, with laboratory-based studies addressing topics related to the effects of bleaching agents on tooth structure being the most prevalent.