Finite Element Analysis Generates an Increasing Interest in Dental Research: A Bibliometric Study

PURPOSE The purpose was to provide a longitudinal overview of published studies that use finite element analysis in dental research, by using the SCI-expanded database of Web of Science(®) (Thomson Reuters). MATERIAL AND METHODS Eighty publications from 1999-2000 and 473 from 2009-2010 were retrieved. This literature grew faster than the overall dental literature. The number of publishing countries doubled. The main journals were American or English, and dealt with implantology. For the top 10 journals publishing dental finite element papers, the mean impact factor increased by 75% during the decade. RESULTS Finite elements generate an increasing interest from dental authors and publishers worldwide.