Advancements and Trends in Electrochemical Biosensors for Saliva-Based Diagnosis of Oral Diseases: A Bibliometric Analysis (2000–2023)

Background: Oral diseases, such as dental caries, periodontal diseases, and oral cancers, represent significant global public health challenges. With the COVID-19 pandemic, traditional diagnostic methods have limitations, thus highlighting the need for innovative, early, and non-invasive diagnostic approaches. Analyse and summarise publications globally through a comprehensive bibliometric study to help researchers suggest possible directions for future research. Objective: The purpose of the study was to evaluate global academic productivity, impact, and collaboration of electrochemical biosensors for oral diseases utilising bibliometrics based on annual number of publications, countries and regions, institution, authors, journals, citations and co-occurrences of author keywords over the last 20 years. Methods: This study employs bibliometric analysis to assess the research of electrochemical biosensors for oral diseases in the Web of Science from 2000 to 2023. Utilising VOSviewer, CiteSpace software, and Microsoft Excel, we conducted a bibliometric and visualised analysis of electrochemical biosensors for oral diseases. Results: The quantity of pertinent publications in this research domain displays a fluctuating but overall upward trend. In aggregate, there are 341 articles and 82 reviews, encompassing research contributions from 55 countries, 649 institutions, and involving 2068 authors. Among these publications, China, the USA, and India emerged as the predominant contributing nations. Predominantly, articles found their publication venue in “Biosensors & Bioelectronics.” Notably, the author with the highest number of publications and most influence is Wang, Joseph S. The top 3 keywords include “biosensor,”“sensor,”“saliva.” Conclusion: In this investigation, statistical analysis and network visualisation were conducted to reveal the research progress, trends, and trending topics on electrochemical biosensors for oral diseases via a thorough bibliometric analysis. We found that Despite these challenges, electrochemical biosensors hold significant promise for transforming oral disease diagnostics. Overcoming current technical barriers will improve both oral and systemic health outcomes.