MAPPING THE RESEARCH LANDSCAPE OF ERGONOMICS IN DENTISTRY: A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF WORK-RELATED MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Abstract

Background: Dentistry demands sustained static postures, fine motor precision and repetitive movements, making work- related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) one of the most persistent occupational health concerns for dental professionals. Many systematic reviews have synthesised prevalence and prevention evidence, but the structure and evolution of the wider scholarly literature on dental ergonomics have not been mapped quantitatively. Objective: To present a bibliometric analysis of Scopus-indexed research on ergonomics in dentistry. Methods: Records were retrieved from Scopus using the keywords "ergonomics" and "dentistry" (n = 477) and analysed with the bibliometrix R package (Biblioshiny) to produce descriptive indicators, source productivity, source growth over time and a keyword co-occurrence network. Results: The analytical dataset comprised 469 documents published between 1965 and 2026 in 266 sources by 1,514 authors, with an annual growth rate of 2.86%, 3.83 co-authors per document and 11.92 citations per document on average. The European Journal of Dental Education (n = 16), Work (n = 15) and Die Quintessenz (n = 13) were the most productive sources. Keyword mapping revealed three thematic clusters: ergonomics, posture and equipment design; occupational musculoskeletal epidemiology; and dental education. Conclusion: The field is long established but growing slowly, is widely dispersed across journals, and is increasingly connected to dental education. Priorities for future work include intervention research, multi-database mapping and citation-based analyses of the field's intellectual structure.