# Web of Science-Based Scientometric Assessment of the Importance of Filtered Water in Dentistry: Spatiotemporal Dynamics, Emerging Patterns, and Collaboration

## TL;DR

This study analyzes scientific research on filtered water in dentistry from 1991 to 2023, showing growth and collaboration trends.

## Contribution

The study provides a spatiotemporal scientometric analysis of filtered water use in dentistry, emphasizing its growing scientific relevance.

## Key findings

- The annual growth rate of scientific production on filtered water in dentistry was 10.44% over 32 years.
- Collaborative interactions among authors increased notably in 2010 and 2020.
- Most authors published only one paper, following Lotka's law of scientific productivity.

## Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the characteristics of scientific production related to the use of filtered water in the field of dentistry. Material and Methods. A quantitative and descriptive observational study was carried out with a scientometric approach. Data were collected from the Web of Science (WOS) database during the period January 1991 to December 2023. A search strategy incorporating a combination of MeSH terms, including terms and thesauri related to “filtered water” and “dentistry”, was used. R Studio version 4.3.2 and CiteSpace 6.2.R7 were used for data analysis.

Over the 32-year study period, 227 scholarly papers from 134 different sources were reviewed. The literature in this field has shown an annual growth rate of 10.44%. During the year 2010, a steady movement in the number of publications and authors was observed, with considerable collaborative interaction. In the year 2020, a large interaction between publications and their citations was found. The “Citation Burst” graph identified three references that have experienced the largest “burst” of citations in an evaluated period. Lotka's law described the productivity of authors, finding that most authors have published only one paper, while a smaller number of authors have published two papers. Most authors contributed a small number of articles, while a few authors contributed a large amount of the existing literature.

A comprehensive overview of the scientific production related to the use of filtered water in dentistry over a span of 32 years is provided. The results highlight the growing interdisciplinarity and international collaboration in this field. Finally, the importance of filtered water in dentistry and its growing relevance in the scientific literature are emphasized.