A bibliometric review of early childhood caries (2013-2023): key drivers towards designing new prevention and management strategies

It is estimated that 48% of children globally and over 70% of those in Malaysia suffer from early childhood caries (ECC). This review aimed to systematically gather studies on ECC and determine key factors associated with it using bibliometric analysis. The “early childhood caries” keyword was searched in the Scopus database. A total of 1,984 articles were selected based on the selection criteria. Author, country, document and keyword analysis was done using VOSviewer 1.6.19. The United States is the leading country in ECC research. The bibliometric analysis of keywords showed seven clusters and the keywords were further ranked according to the risk factors. Dental care was the main key factor of ECC, followed by microbiome, diet and socioeconomic. This insight highlights the emphasis on understanding and addressing issues related to dental care practices in the context of preventing and managing ECC. It is a disease of multifactorial aetiology. Hence, prevention might still be the best way forward.