Water Fluoridation : A Bibliometric Study from 1950 to 2020

Water fluoridation (WF) is considered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)to be one of the top ten public health achievements of the 20th century. However, discussions about WF have been ongoing. The purpose of this study is to collect and analyze the scientific literature for WF and understand the keyword network of the entire field, important articles, high-yield countries, institutions and authors, and the mutual cooperation between them. The data of this research are extracted from the Web of Science (WoS) from 1950 to 2020. In total, 1,011 articles were published. The United States published the largest number of papers. Australia’s University of Adelaide ranks first among the top 20 institutions. Seven scholars, including AJ Spencer, constitute the largest author collaboration network. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology had the most publications, with 107 articles. Keywords density map found that the main keywords were dental caries, fluoride, children, drinking water, prevalence, and dental fluorosis. Keywords clusters mainly related to dental caries, fluoride, epidemiology research, and dental fluorosis. In the highly cited literature, we found that the research also focused on the relationship between stopping WF and caries and the systemic effects of WF. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement The author(s) received no specific funding for this work. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: This research isn't applicable to any ethic approval or exemption. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files.