Changing Trends in Publication Regarding Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction From 1975 to 2021: A Bibliometric Analysis

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is a bicondylar joint. Various conditions have the same clinical presentation as TMJ dysfunction, which requires a thorough assessment of active and passive movements and palpation of the joints surrounding the joint. Many times, TMJ dysfunction occurs due to an alteration in the cervical spine. The patient complains of clicking or popping sound at the jaw and a reduced maximum mouth opening. The conditions that lead to TMJ dysfunction include bruxism, arthritis, stress, injury to the jaw, and overuse. The trend of the available literature has changed from 1972 to 2021 to assess changing trends in the publication on TMJ about authors, country, collaboration of the institutes, and the journal. We have done this bibliometric assessment. The articles were collected from the PubMed database; the keywords used were temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD), neck pain, physiotherapy, and rehabilitation. A total of 437 articles were found from 1975 to 2021, which were then converted into pictorial forms using the CiteSapce R software, and the data were interpreted. The analysis of the bibliometrics of publications on TMD, neck pain, and functional disability between the years 1975 and 2021 shows a total of 437 articles were published. The articles were from 196 sources; the highest number of publications were seen from 2014 until 2021, with the highest number of published papers by author Yoo WG and the highest number of articles published by the Journal of Physical Therapy Science. This bibliometric analysis depicts that the quantity of literature on TMD and the forward head has increased, as has the effectiveness of physical therapy interventions on the forward head in terms of correcting temporomandibular dysfunction.