The 100 Most Cited Articles in Paediatric Dentistry: What Has Changed?

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ABSTRACT

Aim

To identify and analyse the 100 most-cited articles published in paediatric dentistry journals, providing an updated bibliometric overview of the field and comparing findings with previous analysis.

Methods

The Web of Science database was searched up to January 2026 to identify the most-cited papers published in paediatric dentistry journals. The top 100 articles were selected and analysed for citation count, publication year, source journal, geographic distribution, authorship, study design, and thematic area. Co-occurrence network analysis was performed using VOSviewer.

Results

The 100 most-cited papers accumulated 19,919 citations (range: 120–629; mean: 199.2). The International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry (n=34) and Pediatric Dentistry (n=33) contributed the largest shares, followed by the European Archives of Paediatric Dentistry, Journal of Dentistry for Children, European Journal of Paediatric Dentistry, and the Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry. The United States was the leading country (n=28), followed by Brazil (n=8) and Sweden (n=7). Systematic reviews/meta-analyses were the most frequent study design (n=20), followed by narrative reviews (n=16) and cross-sectional studies (n=16). Cariology was the most represented thematic area (n=34), followed by orofacial/dental growth and development (n=30), with Molar Incisor Hypomineralisation (MIH) emerging as the largest cluster in the cooccurrence network.

Conclusion

Compared with the 2019 analysis, citation thresholds have risen substantially, systematic reviews have replaced cross-sectional studies as the dominant design, MIH has emerged as a leading research theme, and geographic disparities in citation accumulation persist and warrant attention.

Statistics

Poisson regression with robust standard errors identified journal of publication and geographic region as significant predictors of citation count. Articles from South America (RR=0.59, p=0.001), Oceania (RR=0.66, p=0.009), Asia (RR=0.69, p=0.010), and the Middle East (RR=0.71, p=0.042) accumulated significantly fewer citations than those from Europe. Study design and year of publication were not significant predictors.

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