Science Explorer Back to mapMap
Discussion
Subfield · Dentistry

Orthodontics research

Orthodontics is a subfield of Dentistry. Science Explorer counts 111k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: specialty of dentistry that deals with the diagnosis, prevention, and correction of malpositioned teeth and jaws, and misaligned bite patterns.

Research works
111k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
11k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
3
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+23%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
India
19% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Orthodontics

This ranks research output and citation impact. It says nothing about the quality of diagnosis, treatment or care.

What is Orthodontics research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2021-25, its most used keywords are Dental Materials, Restorative Dentistry, Orthodontic Tooth Movement, Orthognathic Surgery, Dental Erosion, Tooth Whitening.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2021-25 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2011-15. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 6 words, with their numbers
  1. Dental Materials15k◆ 0.99×1 topic
  2. Restorative Dentistry15k◆ 0.99×1 topic
  3. Orthodontic Tooth Movement10k◆ 1.08×1 topic
  4. Orthognathic Surgery10k◆ 1.08×1 topic
  5. Dental Erosion5,696◆ 0.90×1 topic
  6. Tooth Whitening5,696◆ 0.90×1 topic

Which countries lead Orthodontics research?

On research quality in 2022-now, the United States, China and Germany rank highest in Orthodontics. By volume, India and Brazil publish the most (3.4k and 2.8k works in 2022-now).

By research quality, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States #1 all time 1.16× citation excellence · 1.53× journals · 100% breadth 12.4% top 10% · 1.9k works
  2. 2 China #2 all time 1.33× citation excellence · 1.06× journals · 100% breadth 15.4% top 10% · 2.1k works
  3. 3 Germany #3 all time 1.60× citation excellence · 1.40× journals · 100% breadth 16.4% top 10% · 652 works
  4. 4 Switzerland #4 all time 1.94× citation excellence · 1.86× journals · 100% breadth 20.6% top 10% · 268 works
  5. 5 United Kingdom #5 all time 1.18× citation excellence · 1.44× journals · 100% breadth 12.0% top 10% · 524 works
  6. 6 Italy #8 all time 1.87× citation excellence · 0.67× journals · 100% breadth 21.0% top 10% · 748 works
  7. 7 Spain #7 all time 1.70× citation excellence · 0.99× journals · 100% breadth 17.7% top 10% · 410 works
  8. 8 Australia #10 all time 1.89× citation excellence · 1.20× journals · 100% breadth 21.1% top 10% · 209 works
  9. 9 France #12 all time 1.38× citation excellence · 1.26× journals · 100% breadth 13.0% top 10% · 244 works
  10. 10 South Korea #13 all time 0.94× citation excellence · 0.91× journals · 100% breadth 10.1% top 10% · 598 works

The track on each row is that row's top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the quality score, which compares the rate with what each place's own topics predict, adds its share of papers in the Nature Index journals, and counts output and breadth too.

Of 24 countries ranked in Orthodontics. Ranked on the quality score for 2022-now; the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Orthodontics

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 India 3.4k works
  2. 2 Brazil 2.8k works
  3. 3 China 2.5k works
  4. 4 United States 2.2k works
  5. 5 Türkiye 2k works
  6. 6 Egypt 1.2k works
  7. 7 Saudi Arabia 1k works
  8. 8 Italy 851 works
  9. 9 Iran 800 works
  10. 10 Germany 740 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

India: 19.4%Brazil: 16.1%China: 14.1%United States: 12.4%6 others listed: 38.1%19%largest
India3,391 · 19.4%Brazil2,810 · 16.1%China2,464 · 14.1%United States2,172 · 12.4%6 others listed6,666 · 38.1%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Orthodontics research?

University of Hong Kong (China) ranks first in Orthodontics on research quality in 2022-now, followed by Sichuan University and University of Bern.

By research quality, 2022-now

  1. 1 University of Hong Kong China · Pok Fu Lam · #1 all time 23.7% top 10% · 81 works
  2. 2 Sichuan University China · Chengdu · #4 all time 16.5% top 10% · 180 works
  3. 3 University of Bern Switzerland · Bern · #5 all time 24.1% top 10% · 78 works
  4. 4 University of Zurich Switzerland · Zurich · #2 all time 19.2% top 10% · 87 works
  5. 5 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München Germany · Munich · #6 all time 21.8% top 10% · 62 works
  6. 6 Seoul National University South Korea · Seoul · #16 all time 17.5% top 10% · 88 works
  7. 7 Stomatology Hospital China · Xi'an · #35 all time 14.3% top 10% · 180 works
  8. 8 Peking University China · Beijing · #14 all time 14.7% top 10% · 64 works
  9. 9 Shanghai Jiao Tong University China · Shanghai · #20 all time 15.7% top 10% · 84 works
  10. 10 Yonsei University South Korea · Seoul · #25 all time 14.1% top 10% · 112 works

The track on each row is that row's top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the quality score, which compares the rate with what each place's own topics predict, adds its share of papers in the Nature Index journals, and counts output and breadth too.

Of 44 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Orthodontics.

Top 100 Orthodontics institutions

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Universidade de São PauloBrazil 285 works
  2. 2 Saveetha UniversityIndia 242 works
  3. 3 Stomatology HospitalChina 217 works
  4. 4 Sichuan UniversityChina 196 works
  5. 5 Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)Brazil 189 works
  6. 6 King Saud UniversitySaudi Arabia 188 works
  7. 7 Cairo UniversityEgypt 174 works
  8. 8 Mansoura UniversityEgypt 151 works
  9. 9 Alexandria UniversityEgypt 136 works
  10. 10 Kamineni Institute of Dental SciencesIndia 133 works

Who are the leading researchers in Orthodontics?

Counting only their work in Orthodontics, Franklin R. Tay, Bart Van Meerbeek and Marta Revilla‐León have the most papers in the world top 10% for their subfield and year beyond the 10% expected.

  1. 1 Franklin R. Tay United States · #10,435 worldwide overall 102.6 of 289 papers here in the top 10%
  2. 2 Bart Van Meerbeek Belgium · #68,550 worldwide overall 74.2 of 230 papers here in the top 10%
  3. 3 Marta Revilla‐León United States · #11,578 worldwide overall 54.8 of 108 papers here in the top 10%
  4. 4 David Henry Pashley United States · #49,340 worldwide overall 52.5 of 176 papers here in the top 10%
  5. 5 Jack L. Ferracane United States · #45,946 worldwide overall 45.4 of 124 papers here in the top 10%
  6. 6 Hockin H.K. Xu United States · #9,086 worldwide overall 42.0 of 97 papers here in the top 10%
  7. 7 Lorenzo Breschi Italy · #255,758 worldwide overall 51.5 of 199 papers here in the top 10%
  8. 8 David H. Pashley United States · #49,762 worldwide overall 44.4 of 100 papers here in the top 10%
  9. 9 Michael D. Weir United States · #13,565 worldwide overall 37.5 of 89 papers here in the top 10%
  10. 10 Mutlu Özcan Switzerland · #585,957 worldwide overall 71.3 of 334 papers here in the top 10%

Ranked on their work in Orthodontics alone: how many more of their papers here reached the world top 10% for their subfield and year than the 10% expected, among 198,335 ranked researchers with a paper here. Each paper counts once, so many strong papers outrank one famous one, and a long record of ordinary papers does not climb. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Orthodontics researchers

What are the most cited papers in Orthodontics?

The most cited paper in Orthodontics is "A 15-year study of osseointegrated implants in the treatment of the edentulous jaw" (Ragnar Adell, Ulf Lekholm, Birger Rockler et al., 1981), with 4,839 citations. Next come "Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (DC/TMD) for Clinical and Research Applications: Recommendations of the International RDC/TMD Consortium Network* and Orofacial Pain Special Interest Group†" (4,547) and "Solutions able to reproduce in vivo surface‐structure changes in bioactive glass‐ceramic A‐W 3" (3,844).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 A 15-year study of osseointegrated implants in the treatment of the edentulous jaw Ragnar Adell, Ulf Lekholm, Birger Rockler et al. · International Journal of Oral Surgery 1981 4,839
2 Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (DC/TMD) for Clinical and Research Applications: Recommendations of the International RDC/TMD Consortium Network* and Orofacial Pain Special Interest Group† ERIC L. SCHIFFMAN et al. · Journal of Oral & Facial Pain and Headache Open access 2014 4,547
3 Solutions able to reproduce in vivo surface‐structure changes in bioactive glass‐ceramic A‐W 3 T Kokubo, H. Kushitani, S. Sakka et al. · Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Jun 1990 3,844
4 Research diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders: review, criteria, examinations and specifications, critique. Samuel F. Dworkin, Linda LeResche · PubMed 1992 3,828
5 Dental caries Robert H. Selwitz, Amid Ibrahim Ismail, Nigel Berry Pitts · The Lancet 2007 2,667
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Orthodontics research done?

The largest centres of Orthodontics research in 2022-now are São Paulo (Brazil), Chennai (India), Istanbul (Türkiye) and Cairo (Egypt). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Creve Coeur, Medak and Sinchon-dong.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 São PauloBrazil 655 works
  2. 2 ChennaiIndia 564 works
  3. 3 IstanbulTürkiye 483 works
  4. 4 CairoEgypt 393 works
  5. 5 RiyadhSaudi Arabia 375 works
  6. 6 AnkaraTürkiye 367 works
  7. 7 Xi'anChina 332 works
  8. 8 SeoulSouth Korea 331 works
  9. 9 BeijingChina 292 works
  10. 10 TehranIran 287 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Creve CoeurUS · 46.7 works149×
  2. MedakIN · 65.0 works100×
  3. Sinchon-dong29.1 works92×
  4. NalgondaIN · 132.9 works87×
  5. BauruBR · 28.0 works54×
  6. Rāj-NāndgaonIN · 25.4 works50×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Orthodontics than the world average.

See Orthodontics on the map

Orthodontics research by country

The best places for Orthodontics research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Orthodontics?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Hong Kong, University of Bern and University of Zurich score highest, combining standing in the field's ranking, citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%30%mean 20.31%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →University of BernUniversity of Hong K…University of ZurichSichuan University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Standingthis field's institution ranking, three quarters all time and a quarter 2022-now
50%
Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
20%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
5%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
15%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
5%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
5%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreRank in field (all time)Top 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University of Hong KongChina 85.7#1 (#1)22.7%4.1×92 +19.0%
2University of BernSwitzerland 72.7#3 (#5)23.3%6.5×85 +37.1%
3University of ZurichSwitzerland 70.2#4 (#2)19.1%6.0×99 -24.9%
4Sichuan UniversityChina 70.1#2 (#4)16.3%3.6×196 +74.5%
5Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenGermany 61.3#5 (#6)20.9%3.3×69 -7.4%
6University of AmsterdamNetherlands 53.8- (#9)20.5%4.0×57 +33.7%
7University of MichiganUnited States 53.6- (#3)19.4%1.3×49 -8.8%
8Seoul National UniversitySouth Korea 51.6#6 (#16)16.9%3.6×98 +0.9%
9KU LeuvenBelgium 50.7- (#10)24.6%1.5×34 -12.8%
10Radboud University NijmegenNetherlands 50.0- (#7)19.4%2.9×41 -1.0%

Universities only. The score blends standing (50%), citation excellence (20%), size (15%), specialisation (5%), growth (5%), international reach (5%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise. Standing is the score in this field's institution ranking, three quarters over all time and a quarter 2022-now; excellence averages the two windows too. Four years alone undercount fields such as AI, where many conference and arXiv papers from 2022 on carry no affiliation in the data.

Every institution in Orthodontics, country by country

Is Orthodontics research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 23% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Dental Erosion and Treatment and Dental materials and restorations.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Orthodontics as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.11% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%0.15%Orthodontics0.12% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Orthodontics over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Orthodontics9.8% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics+34%
  2. Dental Erosion and Treatment+19%
  3. Dental materials and restorations+17%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2018-21 to 2022-25. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Orthodontics include?

Share who leads Orthodontics

Who leads Orthodontics, on Science Explorer

A card with the countries and institutions that lead Orthodontics, for a post or a slide.

Download the card

1200 × 630 PNG, sized for social posts, drawn from the latest snapshot.

The leading institutions' badges6Each links to that institution's page and updates with every snapshot

Discussion

Ask a question or share a note about Orthodontics. Keep it to the research: no personal attacks, advertising or links. Any reader can report a post, which collapses it for everyone until it is opened.