A scientometric study on research characteristics of HIV/AIDS involving the oral cavity with an implication for public health

Oral manifestations are often the first signs of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The purpose of this study was to analyze the scientometric characteristics and research trends of HIV/AIDS involving the oral cavity. All the papers on oral involvement of HIV/AIDS were comprehensively retrieved from the Scopus database. The years of publication were divided into before 2006 and 2006–2024 in the analysis of research trends. There were 1770 relevant papers on HIV/AIDS involving the oral cavity, with total citations of 26,307 and the h index of 63. The most common keyword of HIV-related oral diseases was thrush, followed by oral candidiasis, opportunistic infections, Kaposi sarcoma, hairy leukoplakia, periodontal disease, and dental caries. The trend of drug aspect, e.g., antifungal agent, nystatin, and azole drugs before 2006 has changed to reverse transcriptase inhibitors efavirenz and lamivudine. Importantly, the common keyword including public health, health survey, saliva, education, dental student, and knowledge, suggesting that HIV/AIDS remains a major challenge to public health. Herein, we highlight the awareness of early diagnosis, and screening and testing of HIV, e.g., using saliva seems well-suited in dental setting. This study is the first scientometric analysis of HIV-related oral diseases with an implication for public health, underpinning that dentists and stomatologists can play active roles in providing early recognition and timely diagnosis of HIV/AIDS when it involved the oral cavity.