The influence of guide stabilizers and their application sequences on trueness and precision of surgical guides in free end situations: An in vitro analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of guide stabilizers and their application sequences on implant placement accuracy of guided implant surgery in multiple teeth loss at free end. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, 96 implants were placed in the regions of #34, #36, and #37 of 32 identical mandibular models. The influence of using guide stabilizers or not (group A and group B) and various guide stabilizers application sequences (group B: #34 → #36 → #37; group C: #36 → #34 → #37; group D: #37 → #34 → #36) on implant placement trueness and precision was investigated. Data were analyzed using T-tests and one-way ANOVA. RESULTS: Group B showed significant benefits in enhancing implant placement precision. Compared to group A, it resulted in reducing 3D-deviation at crest and 2D deviation in vestibular-oral direction at both crest and apex. Furthermore, group D demonstrated greater improvement in global implant placement precision by reducing 2D deviation in mesial-distal direction at both crest and apex. Among the three different stabilizer application sequences, group D exhibited the highest level of implant placement precision. CONCLUSIONS: In cases of missing teeth at distal free end, the use of guide stabilizers and their application sequences does not have a significant impact on implant placement trueness. However, they do improve implant placement precision compared to methods that do not utilize guide stabilizers. Specifically, applying a guide stabilizer first at the furthest implant site to change teeth loss classification from free end to edentulous space with posterior support is the most reliable sequence.

A digital in situ bone augmentation workflow for reconstructing the alveolar ridge outline using a modified shell technique.

The traditional shell technique is a practical method for augmenting horizontal and vertical alveolar bone defects. However, it has drawbacks, including increased morbidity in the donor site and imprecise harvesting of bone grafts. Instead of using a second surgical site, root areas at the defect site could be the in situ donor site. A digitally designed bone harvest guide was used for an in situ bone augmentation workflow, and the modified shell technique was planned and executed in the root area. This technique offered a controllable procedure which might enhance bone augmentation.

A "flexible" compulsory dental basic research course for undergraduate students: a three-year retrospective study.

INTRODUCTION: Since 2015, the Guanghua School of Stomatology has established an elective dental basic research course (EDBRC). To make all students benefit from the dental basic research course without causing excessive academic burden, the "flexible" compulsory dental basic research course (CDBRC) was settled in 2020. This study intends to introduce the "flexible" compulsory teaching module and assessment system of CDBRC, and analyze its effectiveness over 3 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The grade point average (GPA), course pressure, level of basic research knowledge and skills, and students' research achievements were collected and analyzed between EDBRC and CDBRC. The unpaired t test was used to analyze the difference. RESULTS: The "flexible" CDBRC has been successfully constructed with compulsory teaching module and hierarchical assessment system. The CDBRC has not caused significant course pressure to students compared with the EDBRC. Besides, the "flexible" CDBRC can improve the students' GPA, basic research knowledge, and research achievements. CONCLUSIONS: The "flexible" CDBRC can improve students' academic performance and basic research abilities without causing significant course pressure, which can be conducted in dental schools with similar backgrounds. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Not applicable.

The development and training effect of innovative undergraduate dental talents training project: A 6-year retrospective study.

INTRODUCTION: To summarize the development of Innovative Undergraduate Dental Talents Training Project (IUDTTP) and investigate the training effect of this extracurricular dental basic research education activity from 2015 to 2020 to obtain educational implications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Guanghua School of Stomatology established the IUDTTP in 2015. The authors recorded the development process and analysed the participation situation, training effect, academic performance and overall satisfaction during 2015-2020 through documental analysis, questionnaire and quiz. The t-test, chi-square test and ANOVA were used to test the difference. RESULTS: The educational goal, education module and assessment system of IUDTTP evolved and developed every year. A total of 336 students and 79 mentors attended the IUDTTP from 2015 to 2020, with the participation rate increasing from 45.1% to 73.5%. The participants exhibited favourable basic research abilities, manifesting as the increase of funded projects and published papers and satisfying quiz scores. Almost all students (94.94%) admitted their satisfaction with the IUDTTP. Moreover, the attended students surpassed the non-participants in terms of GPA, the number of acquired scholarships and outstanding graduates (p < .05). Likewise, the enrolment rate of postgraduate participants was significantly higher than non-participants. CONCLUSIONS: To date, the training effect indicated that the IUDTTP has fulfilled the education aim. It brought positive effects on promoting research interest, cultivating research capacities and enhancing academic performance. The potential deficiencies of extracurricular educational activities, including inflexibility in schedule and insufficiency in systematisms, may be remedied by more systematic educational settings in the future.

Research on Convolutional Neural Network Inference Acceleration and Performance Optimization for Edge Intelligence.

In recent years, edge intelligence (EI) has emerged, combining edge computing with AI, and specifically deep learning, to run AI algorithms directly on edge devices. In practical applications, EI faces challenges related to computational power, power consumption, size, and cost, with the primary challenge being the trade-off between computational power and power consumption. This has rendered traditional computing platforms unsustainable, making heterogeneous parallel computing platforms a crucial pathway for implementing EI. In our research, we leveraged the Xilinx Zynq 7000 heterogeneous computing platform, employed high-level synthesis (HLS) for design, and implemented two different accelerators for LeNet-5 using loop unrolling and pipelining optimization techniques. The experimental results show that when running at a clock speed of 100 MHz, the PIPELINE accelerator, compared to the UNROLL accelerator, experiences an 8.09% increase in power consumption but speeds up by 14.972 times, making the PIPELINE accelerator superior in performance. Compared to the CPU, the PIPELINE accelerator reduces power consumption by 91.37% and speeds up by 70.387 times, while compared to the GPU, it reduces power consumption by 93.35%. This study provides two different optimization schemes for edge intelligence applications through design and experimentation and demonstrates the impact of different quantization methods on FPGA resource consumption. These experimental results can provide a reference for practical applications, thereby providing a reference hardware acceleration scheme for edge intelligence applications.

Abnormal maxillary sinus diagnosing on CBCT images via object detection and 'straight-forward' classification deep learning strategy.

BACKGROUND: Pathological maxillary sinus would affect implant treatment and even result in failure of maxillary sinus lift and implant surgery. However, the maxillary sinus abnormalities are challenging to be diagnosed through CBCT images, especially for young dentists or dentists in grassroots medical institutions without systematical education of general medicine. OBJECTIVES: To develop a deep-learning-based screening model incorporating object detection and 'straight-forward' classification strategy to screen out maxillary sinus abnormalities on CBCT images. METHODS: The large area of background noise outside maxillary sinus would affect the generalisation and prediction accuracy of the model, and the diversity and imbalanced distribution of imaging manifestations may bring challenges to intellectualization. Thus we adopted an object detection to limit model's observation zone and 'straight-forward' classification strategy with various tuning methods to adapt to dental clinical need and extract typical features of diverse manifestations so that turn the task into a 'normal-or-not' classification. RESULTS: We successfully constructed a deep-learning model consist of well-trained detector and diagnostor module. This model achieved ideal AUROC and AUPRC of 0.953 and 0.887, reaching more than 90% accuracy at optimal cut-off. McNemar and Kappa test verified no statistical difference and high consistency between the prediction and ground truth. Dentist-model comparison test showed the model's statistically higher diagnostic performance than dental students. Visualisation method confirmed the model's effectiveness in region recognition and feature extraction. CONCLUSION: The deep-learning model incorporating object detection and straightforward classification strategy could achieve satisfying predictive performance for screening maxillary sinus abnormalities on CBCT images.

The picture of undergraduate dental basic research education: a scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Undergraduate dental basic research education (UDBRE) is broadly regarded as an important approach for cultivating scientific research talent. This scoping review aims to summarize the current status of UDBRE in terms of educational goals, teaching program and content, assessment system, training outcomes, barriers, and reflections. METHODS: The authors performed a systematic literature search in PubMed, Web of Science, and Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) to identify peer-reviewed articles written in English from their inception to January 29, 2021. Articles were reviewed and screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Related data from the included publications were then collected and summarized. RESULTS: The authors searched 646 publications and selected 16 articles to include in the study. The education goals included cultivating five major dental basic research capabilities (n=10, 62.5%) and developing interest in basic research (n=2, 12.5%). As for the teaching program, the mentor-guided student research project was the most popular (n=11, 68.8%), followed by didactic courses (n=5, 31.3%), experimental skills training (n=1, 6.3%), and the combination of the above forms (n=3, 18.8%). However, the assessment system and training outcome diverged. Existing evidence showed that UDBRE reached satisfying education outcomes. Barriers included excessive curriculum burden (n=2, 12.5%), tutor shortage (n=3, 18.8%), lack of financial support (n=5, 31.3%), and inadequate research skills and knowledge (n=5, 31.3%). CONCLUSIONS: Although efforts were made, the variation between studies revealed the immature status of UDBRE. A practical UDBRE education system paradigm was put forward. Meanwhile, more research is required to optimize a robust UDBRE system with clear education goals, well-designed teaching forms, and convincing assessment systems.

Placement accuracy and primary stability of implants in the esthetic zone using dynamic and static computer-assisted navigation: A retrospective case-control study.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Both the placement accuracy and primary stability of implants are important to implant therapy in the esthetic zone. The effect of dynamic and static computer-assisted navigation on the primary stability of implants in the esthetic zone remains uncertain. PURPOSE: The purpose of this case-control study was to investigate the effect of dynamic and static computer-assisted navigation on the placement accuracy and primary stability of implants in the esthetic zone. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Partially edentulous participants who received at least 1 implant in the anterior maxilla using either fully guided static or dynamic computer-assisted implant surgery (s-CAIS, d-CAIS) from January 2020 to February 2022 were screened. Participant demographic information, timing of implant placement, primary stability represented by the insertion torque value (ITV) in Ncm, and implant survival were collected from the treatment record. Bone quality at the implant sites was determined according to the Lekholm and Zarb classification. The accuracy of implant placement represented by the linear (platform: Dpl, mm; apex: Dap, mm) and angular deviations (axis: Dan, degree) between the planned and placed implants was evaluated based on the preoperative surgical plan and postoperative cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) data. A statistical analysis of the data was completed by using the chi-square, Fisher exact, Student t, and Mann-Whitney U tests (α=.05). RESULTS: A total of 32 study participants (38 implants) were included. The groups of s-CAIS (16 participants, 18 implants) and d-CAIS (16 participants, 20 implants) were statistically comparable in sex (P=.072), age (P=.548), bone quality (P=.671), and timing of implant placement (P=.719). All implants survived during an average follow-up period of 13 months. The d-CAIS group showed close linear deviations (Dpl 1.07 ±0.57 mm, Dap 1.26 ±0.53 mm) but lower angular deviation (Dan 2.14 ±1.20 degrees) and primary stability (ITV 25.25 ±7.52 Ncm) than the s-CAIS group (Dpl 0.92 ±0.46 mm, Dap 1.31 ±0.43 mm, Dan 3.31 ±1.61 degrees, ITV 30.56 ±11.23 Ncm, PDpl=.613, PDap=.743, PDan=.016, PITV=.028). CONCLUSIONS: Comparable linear positioning accuracy and higher angular deviation were found for implants placed in the esthetic zone by using s-CAIS than when using d-CAIS. Higher primary stability of implants may be achieved by using s-CAIS, as s-CAIS seemed to have higher osteotomy accuracy than d-CAIS.

Analysis of the sagittal root angle and its correlation with hard and soft tissue indices in anterior teeth for immediate implant evaluation: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: To assess the root angle characteristics of maxillary incisors, and to analyze the relationship between the root angle and other implant-related anatomical indices to use the sagittal root angle as an index for immediate implant evaluation and design. METHODS: A random sample consisting of 400 cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images and 65 maxillary plaster models were selected for the present study. CBCT and stereolithography (STL) scan images were imported as DICOM files into coDiagnostiX software for matching the hard and soft tissue. The angle between the long axis of the anterior tooth and the corresponding alveolar bone and implant-related hard and soft tissue indices were measured in the sagittal section. Descriptive statistics, frequency analysis, multi-level comparisons, and correlation analyses were performed. RESULTS: The average sagittal root angles were 15° at the central incisor and 19° at the lateral incisor. The root angle in males was significantly larger than that in females, and increased with age. The largest angle, 22.35°, was found in the lateral incisors of the oldest (> 50 years old) male group. The root angle was found to correlate with coronal buccal bone thickness, coronal palatal bone thickness, apical buccal bone thickness, palatal bone thickness, and the below apex bone thickness. CONCLUSIONS: The sagittal root angle could reflect the distribution of other implant-related anatomical indices, which may provide additional reference for the evaluation of immediate implant placement.

Immediate Implant Placement with Buccal Bone Augmentation in the Anterior Maxilla with Thin Buccal Plate: A One-Year Follow-Up Case Series.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the buccal bone thickness of immediate implant placement with buccal bone augmentation in patients with a thin buccal plate in the esthetic zone. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen consecutive patients requiring a single tooth replacement in the anterior maxillary zone with a thin plate (<1 mm) were included and received immediate implant placement with narrow-diameter implants. Patients received buccal bone augmentation (both internal and external socket bone grafting) with deproteinized bovine bone mineral (DBBM) and an absorbable membrane. The final restoration was delivered after 8 months. Cone-beam CT scans were performed before surgery (CBCT0), immediately after surgery (CBCT1), at final restoration delivery (CBCT2), and at 1-year follow-up after the final restoration (CBCT3) to evaluate the buccal bone thickness and ridge width. A repeated measures ANOVA and Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons were applied for statistical analysis of changes within different time points (α = 0.05). RESULTS: Fifteen of the 18 enrolled patients were available for analysis at the 1-year follow-up after final restoration. The mean buccal bone thickness at 2 mm apical to the implant-abutment junction (IAJ-2) were 3.59 mm (range: 3.04-4.58 mm), 2.79 mm (range: 2.25-3.78 mm), and 2.52 mm (range: 1.72-3.36 mm), respectively, at CBCT1, CBCT2, and CBCT3. A statistical significance was observed for buccal bone thickness change between CBCT1 and CBCT2 at IAJ-2 (F = 17.948, p = 0.001). The net gains of the ridge width from CBCT0 to CBCT1, CBCT1 to CBCT2, and CBCT2 to CBCT3 were 1.08 mm, -0.94 mm and -0.04 mm at 4 mm apical to the cementum-enamel junction, respectively. No statistical significance was observed for the change in ridge width from CBCT0 to CBCT3 (F = 10.518, p = 1.000). CONCLUSIONS: Simultaneous buccal bone augmentation may maintain a predictable buccal bone thickness for immediate implant placement in the maxillary anterior sites with a thin buccal plate (<1 mm) at 1-year follow-up after final restoration.

Wireless, battery-free and wearable device for electrically controlled drug delivery: sodium salicylate released from bilayer polypyrrole by near-field communication on smartphone.

Compared with traditional drug delivery methods, transdermal drug delivery has many advantages in avoiding the side effects in gastrointestinal tract, reducing the fluctuations in drug concentration, and improving patients' compliance. Among them, electrically controlled drug delivery is a promising solution. This work presents a wireless, battery-free and wearable device with electrically controlled drug delivery capability. The electronic component of the device is a flexible circuit board with a temperature sensor and a near-field communication module. With the help of smartphone, the device could wirelessly obtain energy and implement data transmission. The drug delivery component is a paper-based electrode modified with polypyrrole, in which non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug sodium salicylate was encapsulated. The applied potential for electrically controlled drug delivery was more negative than -0.6 V. The drug release dose and release rates could be controlled by applying potentials with different amplitudes and durations through this device. It provided a minimalized wearable transdermal drug delivery platform for monitoring diseases such as gout. This wearable device shows promising potential in develop closed-loop drug delivery and monitoring systems for the treatment of various diseases.

Long non-coding RNA and mRNA expression profiles in peri-implantitis vs periodontitis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Peri-implantitis is a biofilm-mediated infectious disease that results in progressive loss of implant-supporting bone. As compared to its analogue periodontitis, peri-implantitis is generally known to be more aggressive, with comparatively rapid progression and less predictable treatment outcomes, especially when advanced. An understanding of molecular mechanisms underpinning the similarities and differences between peri-implantitis and periodontitis is essential to develop novel management strategies. This study aimed to compare long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression profiles between peri-implantitis and periodontitis. METHODS: Inflamed soft tissue from peri-implantitis and periodontitis lesions, and healthy gingival tissue controls were analyzed by microarray. Cluster graphs, gene ontology (GO) analysis, and pathway analysis were performed. Quantitative real-time PCR was employed to verify microarray results. The expression levels of RANKL and OPG in the three tissue types were also evaluated, using qRT-PCR. Coding non-coding (CNC) network analyses were performed. RESULTS: Microarray analyses revealed 1079 lncRNAs and 1003 mRNAs as differentially expressed in peri-implantitis when compared to periodontitis. The cyclooxygenase-2 pathway was the most up-regulated biological process in peri-implantitis as compared to periodontitis, whereas hemidesmosome assembly was the most down-regulated pathway. Osteoclast differentiation was relatively up-regulated, and RANKL/OPG ratio was higher in peri-implantitis than in periodontitis. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrated that peri-implantitis and periodontitis exhibit significantly different lncRNA and mRNA expression profiles, suggesting that osteoclast differentiation-related pathways are comparatively more active in peri-implantitis. These data highlight potential molecular targets for periodontitis and peri-implantitis therapy development.

Bio-inspired multi-scale fusion.

We reveal how implementing the homogeneous, multi-scale mapping frameworks observed in the mammalian brain's mapping systems radically improves the performance of a range of current robotic localization techniques. Roboticists have developed a range of predominantly single- or dual-scale heterogeneous mapping approaches (typically locally metric and globally topological) that starkly contrast with neural encoding of space in mammalian brains: a multi-scale map underpinned by spatially responsive cells like the grid cells found in the rodent entorhinal cortex. Yet the full benefits of a homogeneous multi-scale mapping framework remain unknown in both robotics and biology: in robotics because of the focus on single- or two-scale systems and limits in the scalability and open-field nature of current test environments and benchmark datasets; in biology because of technical limitations when recording from rodents during movement over large areas. New global spatial databases with visual information varying over several orders of magnitude in scale enable us to investigate this question for the first time in real-world environments. In particular, we investigate and answer the following questions: why have multi-scale representations, how many scales should there be, what should the size ratio between consecutive scales be and how does the absolute scale size affect performance? We answer these questions by developing and evaluating a homogeneous, multi-scale mapping framework mimicking aspects of the rodent multi-scale map, but using current robotic place recognition techniques at each scale. Results in large-scale real-world environments demonstrate multi-faceted and significant benefits for mapping and localization performance and identify the key factors that determine performance.

Correlation of anterior overbite with root position and buccal bone thickness of maxillary anterior teeth: a CBCT study.

PURPOSE: To investigate the correlation of anterior overbite with the sagittal root position (SRP) and buccal bone thickness (BBT) of the maxillary anterior teeth. METHODS: Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) data of southern Chinese patients who underwent CBCT examinations between November 2016 and December 2016 were collected. The anterior overbite was the predictor variable while the SRP and the BBT at 4 mm apical to the cementoenamel junction (CEJ-4) and midpoint of the root of the maxillary anterior teeth were set as the primary and secondary outcome variables, respectively. All measurements were done by two calibrated examiners. Correlations between variables were analyzed by the Spearman's correlation coefficient. The significance level was set at P < 0.05. RESULTS: CBCT data of 146 patients (65 men and 81 women) with a mean age of 44.2 ± 13.4 years were analyzed, and of the 876 maxillary anterior teeth evaluated, 9.8% were presented with deep overbites. Most of roots of the anterior teeth (94.9%) were positioned against the buccal cortical plate, of which, in 63.8% of them the apex was not covered by bone along the long axis of the tooth. The mean BBT at CEJ-4 was 0.89 mm at the central incisor, 0.85 mm at the lateral incisor and 0.84 mm at the canine. The overbite was positively correlated with SRP Class I subtypes and the BBT at CEJ-4 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Deep overbite was more frequently accompanied by bone fenestration in the anterior maxillary areas.

Leveraging variable sensor spatial acuity with a homogeneous, multi-scale place recognition framework.

Most robot navigation systems perform place recognition using a single-sensor modality and one, or at most two heterogeneous map scales. In contrast, mammals perform navigation by combining sensing from a wide variety of modalities including vision, auditory, olfactory and tactile senses with a multi-scale, homogeneous neural map of the environment. In this paper, we develop a multi-scale, multi-sensor system for mapping and place recognition that combines spatial localization hypotheses at different spatial scales from multiple different sensors to calculate an overall place recognition estimate. We evaluate the system's performance over three repeated 1.5-km day and night journeys across a university campus spanning outdoor and multi-level indoor environments, incorporating camera, WiFi and barometric sensory information. The system outperforms a conventional camera-only localization system, with the results demonstrating not only how combining multiple sensing modalities together improves performance, but also how combining these sensing modalities over multiple scales further improves performance over a single-scale approach. The multi-scale mapping framework enables us to analyze the naturally varying spatial acuity of different sensing modalities, revealing how the multi-scale approach captures each sensing modality at its optimal operation point where a single-scale approach does not, and enables us to then weight sensor contributions at different scales based on their utility for place recognition at that scale.

[Affective Stress Rating Method Based on Improved Hidden Markov Model].

To solve the defect which is recognizing but not rating the stress,or rating but not considering the influence of the previous stress state to the current state of the existing affective stress evaluation method,this paper proposes an approach of affective stress rating model on electrocardiogram(ECG).An affective stress rating algorithm based on hidden Markov model(HMM)was established with the theory of affective computing.The individual's affective stress was rated using this affective rating model combining the investigation questionnaire.Features like complexity and approximate entropy of ECG were used in the model,and a matching process suggested that it improved the accuracy of affective stress rating.The result of the experiment illustrated that the model considering the environmental factors and the influence of previous stress state to the current state was an effective method in affective stress rating,and the accuracy of rating was improved by this affective stress rating method.

[A Review of Methods for Early Evaluation of Alzheimer's Disease].

With the intensified aging problem, the study of age-related diseases is becoming more and more significant. Alzheimer's disease is a kind of dementia, with senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles as the main pathological features, and has become one of the major diseases that endanger the health of the elderly. This review is concentrated on the research of the early assessment of Alzheimer's disease. The current situation of early diagnosis of the disease is analyzed, and a prospect of the future development of early assessment means of the disease is also made in the paper.

[Methods and Applications of Psychological Stress State Assessment].

In this paper, the response of individual's physiological system under psychological stress state is discussed, and the theoretical support for psychological stress assessment research is provided. The two methods, i.e., the psychological stress assessment of questionnaire and physiological parameter assessment used for current psychological stress assessment are summarized. Then, the future trend of development of psychological stress assessment research is pointed out. We hope that this work could do and provide further support and help to psychological stress assessment studies.

Exploring the mechanism by which Angelica sinensis improves haematopoietic function in aplastic anaemia.

Angelica sinensis (AS) can improve the haematopoietic function, but the treatment mechanism is unknown. Transfusion dependency was estimated by Kaplan-Meier survival analyses and Cox proportional-hazard model in AS treated apalstic anemia (AA) patients. After that, the AA GEO database was analysed, the up differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of AA were combined with AS targets for the intersection of targets. After the AA mouse model was established, the effect of AS was confirmed by haematopoietic function tests. The same experiment plus mitochondrial apoptotic pathway tests in vivo were performed in Angelica sinensis polysaccharide (ASP)-treated mice, the key ingredient in AS. For in vitro experiment, bone marrow nucleated cells (BMNCs) were tested. Clinical data confirmed that the level of transfusion dependency and IL17A were lower in AS-users compared to non-AS users (p < 0.001). The intersection of targets between AA and AS most concentrated on inflammation and apoptosis. Then, the same effect was found in AS treated AA mice model. In both in vivo and in vitro tests, ASP demonstrated the ability to mitigate P38/MAPK-induced Bax-associated mitochondrial apoptosis, while also reducing the levels of activated Th17 cells and alleviating abnormal cytokine levels. So, the protective effect of AS and ASP on hematopoietic function lies in their ability to prevent apoptosis.

Research hotspots and trends of nanomaterials in stomatology: A bibliometric analysis from 2000 to 2023.

Background: Nanomaterials (NMs) have emerged as highly promising candidates for stomatology due to their excellent quality and remarkable progress in recent years. However, with the rapid expansion of the research scale, challenges arise in the technological decision-making and research management processes, and therefore difficulty for researchers to understand the knowledge structure and research hotspots has increased significantly. This study aims to make a comprehensive summary of authors, institutions, journals, research topics, development trends, and research hotspots of NMs in stomatology through bibliometric analysis for the sake of providing references for scientific decision-making, research management, and academic exploration in this filed. Methods: Studies on research and application of NMs in stomatology were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) from January 1, 2000 to April 27, 2023. Bibliometric analysis and visualization were conducted using CiteSpace and VOSviewer. Results: A total of 620 articles were included in this study, showing a gradual increase in the number of publications focusing on NMs in stomatology. Globally, China ranked first with 130 publications, and the United States (US) enjoyed the highest citation count (n = 5218) and average citation per paper (ACP) (n = 52.18). The top three institutions with the highest publication output were the University of Sao Paulo (n = 22), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (n = 20), and Shanghai Jiaotong University (n = 13). The journals MATERIALS and NANOMATERIALS emerged as the most popular in this field (n = 20), and BIOMATERIALS had the highest co-citations (n = 1597). The most prolific author was Dos Reis and Andrea Candido (n = 7), while Thomas J. Webster enjoyed the highest co-citations (n = 94). Burstness analysis of the references revealed a prominent research focus on nanoparticle drug delivery systems (specifically lipid nanoparticles). Keyword burstness analysis identified "oxide nanoparticle" as the primary frontier keyword in this field. Conclusion: This is the first study of using bibliometric analysis to summarize the research trends and frontiers of NMs in stomatology. With progressive advancements in the research and application of NMs in oral healthcare, their academic impact is steadily increasing. China and the US maintain a leading position in this field. Future directions could primarily focus on the development and application of nanoparticle drug delivery systems (especially lipid nanoparticles) and metal oxide nanoparticles (especially in antibacterial aspects). We hope that this bibliometric analysis could provide researchers with a panoramic view and useful references for future research, thus promoting the development of NMs in stomatology.