Research trends in oral health and frailty studies: a bibliometric and visual analysis

Objectives: As the global population ages, the association between oral health and frailty has garnered increasing attention. Declining oral function is closely linked to frailty syndromes. This study employs bibliometric methods to systematically analyze research hotspots and emerging trends in this field. Methods: A comprehensive bibliometric analysis was conducted using data from the Web of Science Core Collection (2000-2024) and visualized with CiteSpace software. Key metrics included annual publication trends, contributions by countries/institutions and authors, journal influence, co-citation networks, and keyword clustering related to oral health and frailty. Results: A total of 270 publications were analyzed. The research landscape was characterized by decentralized contributions. At the country level, Japan was the leading contributor, followed by China and the United States. Institutionally, the University of London and several Japanese institutions were the most productive. While Professor Hirohiko Hirano emerged as the most prolific and cited individual author, this productivity was not supported by a dominant, large-scale collaborative network, indicating a fragmented authorship structure. Gerodontology published the most studies, while the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society exerted the strongest academic influence. Key research themes centered on tooth loss as a pivotal risk factor, alongside the association between oral health and frailty, and its impact on quality of life. Conclusion: Despite a rapidly growing body of research on the link between oral health and frailty, international collaboration in this field remains limited. The bibliometric analysis reveals a robust and well-established research domain supporting the association between oral conditions and frailty, as evidenced by dense co-citation networks and coherent keyword clustering, with implications for cognitive decline and reduced quality of life. Current assessment tools lack standardization, and future studies should explore the synergistic effects of oral health interventions alongside conventional frailty management strategies.