Bibliometric Analysis of the 100 Most-Cited Articles on the Methods of Shade-Matching in Dentistry

The purpose of this bibliometric analysis is to identify the 100 most cited articles and delve into citation metrics to gain insights into the evolving trends in shade-matching methods in dentistry.

Following PRISMA guidelines, two reviewers conducted a structured search in Scopus using keyword-based search strings. The top 100 articles were selected based on predefined criteria, and their bibliometric data were extracted. Harzing's Publish Or Perish and VOSviewer were used to generate the bibliographic network.

Between 1989 and 2017, the top 100 articles were published and obtained citations ranging from 560 to 48. Twenty-eight articles received over 100 citations, deemed classic. The Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry and the United States of America were the primary contributors. In-vitro experimental studies employing restorative material samples were prevalent, with spectrophotometers being the favored method of color analysis. Using Python, Spearman's correlation coefficient resealed positive correlations between citation count and age of publication (r = 0.16, p = 0.12) and between citation count and the impact factor of the journal (r = 0.35, p < 0.05). However, a negative correlation was observed between citation density and age of publication (r = -0.46, p < 0.05).

This study demonstrated a significant upward trajectory of citation count in shade-matching in dentistry, reflecting high-quality scientific contributions.