Studies on Burning Mouth Syndrome in the Past 20 Years: A Bibliometric and Visualised Analysis

Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a common oral pain disorder characterised by a burning sensation without any oral mucosal lesions. The etiopathogenesis of BMS remains unclear. A number of psychogenic and molecular mechanisms have been proposed to explain BMS; however, no bibliometric analyses have compiled the knowledge of BMS. Thus, this study aimed to explore the BMS research hotspots and trends from a bibliometric analysis perspective.

A comprehensive search related to BMS publications within the Web of Science Core Collection database was conducted. CiteSpace and VOSviewer software were used to analyse the bibliometric characteristics of the BMS research from January 2003 to September 2023, visualising the country distribution; author and co-cited authors; journals and co-cited journals; references and co-cited references; keyword cluster analysis; and timelines. We also reviewed related articles to provide references for integrating research frameworks.

A total of 1080 BMS articles were published in 466 journals, with 34121 citations from 1447 institutions in 75 countries. The USA has made significant contributions to this field, with Nihon University (Japan) and the Mayo Clinic (USA) publishing the most articles. Toyofuku Akira is the most active author. Oral Diseases is regarded as the most productive journal. The top 3 co-citation clusters were cytokines, chronic pain, and therapy. According to the keyword burst analysis, the strongest keywords include stomatodynia, symptoms, and anxiety.

Over the last 2 decades, the number of BMS publications has gradually and significantly increased worldwide. In recent years, research in the field of BMS has focused on studying the cellular and molecular underpinnings. A bibliometric analysis helps develop a better understanding of the pathogenesis of BMS and innovate more targeted therapeutic interventions in this field.