Research Interest in Copper Materials for Caries Management: A Bibliometric Analysis

This study examined research interest in copper materials for caries management. We conducted an exhaustive literature search of English publications on copper materials for caries management. We removed duplicate publications and screened the titles and abstracts to identify relevant publications. Then, we analyzed the bibliometric data of the publications using the Bibliometrix and VOSviewer programs. This study included 75 laboratory studies, six clinical trials, and 17 reviews. Most of the original research studied copper or copper oxide nanoparticles (45/81, 56%). The materials could be doped into topical agents, restorative fillers, dental adhesives, dental implants, and orthodontic appliances. Since the first paper was published in 1980, publication counts gradually increased and surged in 2019. Among publications on copper materials for caries management, the publication counts and citations from 2019 to 2024 accounted for 65% (64/98) and 74% (1677/2255) over the last 45 years. Cocitation analysis revealed that the two main keywords were nanoparticles and antibacterial activity, and their burst strengths (period) were 3.84 (2021-2024) and 2.21 (2020-2021). The topics of the top two publications with the highest citation burst strength (period) are the antimicrobial effect of copper oxide nanoparticles (3.14, 2021-2022) and the dental application of copper nanoparticles (2.84, 2022-2024). In conclusion, this study revealed a growing interest in copper materials for caries management.