Scientific trends in clinical trials on tooth bleaching: A bibliometric and altmetric review

The aim of this study was to analyze the characteristics and trends of publications in clinical trials on tooth bleaching through a bibliometric and altmetric analysis.

A search was conducted in September 2024 on Web of Science Core Collection (WoS-CC) and Scopus. Two researchers selected articles and extracted key study characteristics. VOSviewer was used to generate bibliometric networks. Dimensions was consulted to measure altmetric data.

416 studies were included, published between 1990 and 2024. The most cited study obtained 164 citations on WoS-CC and 201 on Scopus. The studies predominantly investigated bleaching efficacy (n = 232), often employing double-blind designs (n = 146), conducted in adults (n = 403), randomized (n = 307), and mainly using hydrogen peroxide (n = 200) for at-home vital dental bleaching (n = 199). The majority of the articles were published by Brazilian authors (n = 165), with Loguercio AD (n = 70) and Reis A (n = 56) being the most frequent authors. The manufacturer FGM led with the highest number of investigated products (n = 153), particularly highlighting Whiteness HP Maxx 35 % (n = 40). VOSviewer revealed significant collaborations among authors and keywords. According to Dimensions, users of Mendeley and news outlets have shown great interest in whitening clinical trials.

This study highlighted a growing trend in clinical trials on tooth bleaching over 30 years, with a strong predominance of studies conducted in Brazil that primarily investigated bleaching efficacy through double-blind designs in adults using hydrogen peroxide.

Clinical trials on tooth bleaching represent one of the highest levels of scientific evidence guiding clinical practice, thus requiring thorough evaluation.