Oral health articles in primary care journals: A bibliometric review

Objectives

Primary care lacks emphasis on oral health (OH) despite its major effects on one's overall health. This mixed-methods bibliometric study was conducted to assess the content of OH in primary care journals.

Methods

Sixty-seven of the most influential journals were identified from primary care specialties and disciplines using Scopus CiteScore metrics and expert opinion. For each specialty, one journal was chosen as the “core journal.” A search string was then developed to extract OH related articles found within a ten-year time frame (2012–2021) which were subsequently analyzed for OH content, trends, and article type.

Results

Of the 1784 articles extracted, 1068 met inclusion criteria. When compared with the total number of articles published by journals in any category, OH articles comprised less than 1% of total articles published between 2012 and 2021. Family medicine showed a borderline significant increase in OH articles over this time period while pediatrics showed a significant decline. Among the core journals, there was a statistically significant decline in OH articles published in geriatrics and pediatrics. Case reports and review articles were the most common type of OH article published. General oral lesions and population-specific OH delivery were the most common topics published.

Conclusion

This review highlights the relatively low prevalence of OH articles in primary care journals and defines the most prevalent types of OH articles. Further studies are needed to understand the reasons for the lack of OH articles in primary care journals and the implications for primary care providers and learners.