Dental publications on the treatment of temporomandibular disorders: A bibliometric analysis.

BACKGROUND

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are a common cause of orofacial pain, and research on therapeutic approaches has grown substantially in recent years. This bibliometric study aimed to assess the scientific output of Scopus-indexed articles on temporomandibular disorder (TMD) treatment, highlighting research trends, key authors, keywords and influential patterns.

METHODS

A comprehensive search was conducted in the Scopus database from January 2014 to Au-gust 2024.

RESULTS

The search retrieved 621 articles; after excluding those not related to TMD treatment, 220 were analyzed. The main topics were treatment types and classifications of TMD. The journal contributing the most scientific content was the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. The leading institutions in this field were three universities from Brazil.

CONCLUSIONS

The analysis reveals a steady increase in publications related to TMD treatment. These findings describe publication patterns rather than clinical efficacy or quality of evidence. Further systematic evaluations are needed to determine whether these research trends translate into standardized treatment protocols.