Artificial intelligence enhanced orthognathic surgery: Global trends, thematic evolution, and future directions

Introduction and aims Artificial intelligence (AI) has shown increasing potential in optimizing orthognathic surgery (OGS) through enhanced diagnosis, planning, and patient communication. However, the overall research landscape remains fragmented. This study aimed to systematically map the global research trends and thematic evolution of AI applications in OGS. Methods Publications related to AI and OGS were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). A total of 180 English-language articles published between 2009 and 2025 were included. Bibliometric analyses were performed using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and RStudio to evaluate publication trends, collaboration networks, keyword co-occurrence, and thematic evolution. Results The number of publications increased substantially after 2016, with rapid growth between 2021 and 2024. China, the U.S., and South Korea were leading contributors. Major topics included deep learning, surgical simulation, landmark identification, and aesthetic outcome prediction. Twelve thematic clusters were identified, with recent trends highlighting clinical integration and patient-centered design. Conclusion AI research in OGS has evolved from exploratory algorithms to clinically integrated systems. Future work should focus on multi-center validation, dataset standardization, and explainable AI to promote real-world application. Clinical Relevance This study explains global research trends and thematic evolution in artificial intelligence in orthognathic surgery, which implies its strong integration into clinical practice to improve diagnostic accuracy, surgical planning, and patient communication in maxillofacial surgery.