ArticleActa odontologica latinoamericana : AOL2025
Dental fear and dental anxiety: bibliometric analysis of the 100 most frequently cited papers.
Article in Acta odontologica latinoamericana : AOL, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Children's Drawings as a Tool to Explore the Emotional Experience of Migrant Children in Dental Care: A Qualitative Study in Italy.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Dental fear and anxiety are feelings that are often present at dental appointments and have been studied for a long time.
aimTo identify and critically review the 100 most frequently cited papers on dental fear and dental anxiety (DFA). MATERIALS AND
methodThe 100 most frequently cited papers on DFA were retrieved from Web of Sciences (All databases) using a combined search strategy. Key bibliometric indicators were extracted. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed by the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) except for reviews and systematic reviews, which were evaluated by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) tool.
resultsCitations for the 100 most frequently cited papers ranged from 81 to 882. The largest number of papers was from the United States of America (22 papers; 3850 citations). Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology was the journal with highest number of papers (27 papers; 3153 citations). The most frequently cited author was Corah NL (1390 citations). Cross-sectional study design was the most common (67 studies). The topics covered by the studies were diverse, highlighting studies on the development and validation of assessment tools. There were 17 validated assessment tools, of which The Dental Anxiety Scale was the most often used (28 studies). There were five terms used to refer to DFA. Most papers were of intermediate quality.
conclusionThis bibliometric analysis identified the 100 most frequently cited papers on DFA and the topics covered. "Dental anxiety" was the term most often used, although more recent research includes both "fear" and "anxiety". The Dental Anxiety scale was the most frequently used assessment tool. Higher quality papers are encouraged to improve knowledge on DFA.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.