A Global Overview on Electronic Apex Locator Use From 1968 to 2023: A Bibliometric Analysis

This bibliometric review analyzed the research trends and main characteristics of articles related to Electronic Apex Locators (EALs).

The search was conducted in November 2023 on the Web of Science Core Collection. Narrative and systematic reviews, observational and intervention studies, laboratory, and clinical studies were included. Two researchers selected the articles and extracted the number of citations, year of publication, journal, study design, theme, country, continent, institutions, author, and keywords. Collaborative networks were generated using the VOSviewer software. The relationship between data were determined by Spearman's correlation.

The search resulted in 374 articles, of which 294 were included. Most cited article had 175 citations. The most prevalent journal was the Journal of Endodontics (n = 84). The predominant study design was the laboratory-based (n = 223). The predominant theme was the EALs accuracy (n = 175). Piasecki L was the author with the highest number of articles (n = 11). Only 8.16% of the studies were conducted in deciduous teeth. The country with the most studies was Brazil (n = 46). Asia (n = 107) was the continent with the highest number of publications. There was a weak positive correlation between the number of citations and impact factor (rho = .294), and a strong negative correlation between citations and year of publication (rho = -.710).

The majority of articles were laboratory-based studies conducted on permanent teeth, focusing on the accuracy of EALs. Future studies should prioritize research on deciduous teeth, systematic reviews, and, notably, clinical trials.