Mapping the landscape of artificial intelligence in prosthodontics: A bibliometric overview of current research and future directions

Artificial intelligence (AI) applications have become increasingly popular in our society, affecting a plethora of fields such as business, education, engineering and sciences. In the fields of Medicine and Dentistry, AI is expected to drive significant advancements, starting with improvements in imaging diagnostics. Prosthodontics, a key area within Dentistry, is also expected to benefit greatly from the innovations brought about by AI. In order to assess and analyze the current literature regarding the use of AI technologies in Prosthodontics, a bibliometric review was conducted. The objective was to not only showcase the current developments and upcoming trends in AI in Prosthodontics research, but also to familiarize the dental community with the bibliometric methods and outcomes. Web of Science was assessed and records were screened by two independent reviewers. VOSviewer and Biblioshiny were used for performing bibliometric analyses. After conducting electronic searches, we identified 166 records which were narrowed down to 51 articles following thorough screening. Co-word, citation, co-citation, co-authorship and bibliographic coupling analyses were carried out, along with selected performance and science mapping analyses. AI appears to be a promising area of study in Prosthodontics, as the interest in academic and research has increased significantly in the past few years. The incorporation of bibliometric analysis into the exploration of a scientific subject provides a more comprehensive understanding of the current state of knowledge.