Abstract
Nonsurgical therapies have been recommended and employed as a less invasive and cost-effective modality in managing periodontitis. In this context, different therapeutic protocols have been tested in the last decades. Therefore, mapping the scientific trends and patterns provides critical insights into the state of research in the field, which has not been explored for overall nonsurgical periodontitis treatment studies. Articles from 2001 to 2020 were retrieved from the Web of Science database using appropriate terms and keywords. Article selection and data extraction were performed by calibrated examiners. All articles focusing on nonsurgical periodontitis treatment were included. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted. 1,519 articles were included. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) were the most used design (44.1%), and professional biofilm control was the topic most studied (35.6%). Europe published the most significant number of articles (41.1%). The USA was the country that collaborated more with other countries. Asia (p<0.001), South America (p=0.004), and Oceania/Africa (p=0.016) showed a lower chance to have international collaboration. Studies from North America were more likely to be RCTs than studies from Europe (p=0.050); studies focusing on professional biofilm control (p<0.001) and other topics (p<0.001) were less likely to be evaluated by RCTs. The nonsurgical periodontitis treatment field mainly conducted RCTs, and the topic most explored by all studies was professional biofilm control. International collaboration and conduct of RCTs in this field occurred mainly among high-income countries. Decentralizing scientific resources, making integrative connections globally, and evaluating new topics may improve evidence-based periodontology.