Abstract:

Modern higher education of stomatology started very early in China, and has developed for more than 100 years. However, the domestic research on stomatology education is not sufficient. This study focused on the development of higher education of stomatology, through collecting the data of around 30 years of doctoral dissertations in stomatology, and conducting a visualization analysis based on Citespace. It was found that although the specific content and methods of research had been developing and progressing, most doctoral dissertations in stomatology were closely related to "bone" . Among the top 10 keywords in the doctoral dissertations of stomatology, eight were directly related to "bone" , including osteoblasts, osteogenic differentiation, periodontitis, tissue engineering, biomechanics, mandible, implants and osteoclasts, while the other two were proliferation and differentiation. The popularity of bone research in dental doctoral dissertations may be a clinically oriented consequence. However, there are many other diseases worthy of attention in stomatology, such as caries, oral precancerous lesions, and head and neck cancers, whose treatment and prognosis have not been significantly improved for the past few decades. Therefore, more research topics should be focused so as to promote the development of higher education of stomatology in China.

Key words: Medical students, Stomatology, Higher education, Research spotlight, Visualization analysis