Mapping Global Research on Microplastics in Dental Science: Scientometric Trends, Collaborations, and Future Directions
Espinoza-Carhuancho F.; Calderon-Cortez I.; Cruz M.H.-D.; Lozano-Castro F.; Camayo J.S.; Velasquez-Rimachi V.; Mayta-Tovalino F. · International Journal of Dentistry (2026) · DOI: 10.1155/ijod/6506257
Resumen
Aim: To analyze the global scientific production on microplastics in dentistry by evaluating publication performance, impact indicators, collaboration networks, thematic evolution, and core publication sources. Materials and Methods: A scientometric study was conducted based on publications indexed in the Scopus database. Publications indexed between January 1, 2020 and January 17, 2026, were retrieved in accordance with the Reporting and Measurement Items for Bibliometric or Scientometric Studies in Health Sciences (RAMIBS) guideline. We examined various document types written in all languages; records were exported from Scopus in CSV format and analyzed using SciVal for bibliometric indicators. We also analyzed the records that were exported from Scopus in CSV format and analyzed using SciVal (Elsevier) and R version 4.5.2 in RStudio with the bibliometrix package for data cleaning, normalization, and bibliometric analyses. Variables examined included author, affiliation, country, scholarly output, citations, views, journal quartiles, distribution of themes according to Bradford’s law, collaborative networks, thematic factor analysis, and the temporal evolution of the themes studied. Results: The analysis identified 75 publications from 45 sources with an average citation per article of 10.7 citations per article. These publications had an average age of 2.6 years, were written by 317 authors, and demonstrated a total rate of 21.3% in terms of the number of international collaborations. There was a predominance of original articles (42) and review articles (28) among these publications, which were published in core journals following the distribution of publications according to the Bradford law of distribution. The authors operated in relatively sparse collaboration networks with little local collaboration with other authors, while at the same time international collaboration showed a relatively dispersed network, with India occupying a prominent position based on country-level collaboration indicators. Thematic analysis identified co-occurring themes linking microplastics, dentistry, environmental pollution, and carbon footprint. Conclusion: Research on micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) in dentistry is an emerging and interdisciplinary field with relatively limited international collaboration. Copyright
Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Universidad Científica del Sur; Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola; Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal