Retraction of Dentally Related Articles (2004-2025): A descriptive study assessing the impact on oral hygiene and caries management literature

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential impact on science of post-retraction citations in oral hygiene and caries management literature by examining the characteristics of retracted dental articles.

Methods The Retraction Watch Database was the data source used for the descriptive study. The database features lists and reports that identify retracted manuscripts. Retractions were characterized by author, year, location, and reason for the retraction. Articles pertaining to oral hygiene and caries management were retrieved, read, and evaluated according to the following criteria: 1) Presented a potential neutral or minimal impact (the citing article cited general background information from the retraction which was not inaccurate nor based on the results of the retracted manuscript); 2) Presented a potential major negative impact on influencing science (the citing article cited inaccurate information or information based on the retracted article); 3) Unable to determine (behind a paywall, in a study without dates of publication, or otherwise unavailable); or 4) Included a notation that the citation was from a retracted article.

Results Of the 64,739 retractions listed in the database, there were 297 dentally related retracted publications (0.46% of all retractions and 0.017% of all dentally related articles published from 2004-2025). Twenty-eight retracted articles addressed oral hygiene and caries management. The 28 articles were cited in a total of 1179 articles with 347 post-retractions. Seventy-four post-retraction citations had a potentially major negative scientific impact, 106 had a potential minor impact, 6 had a notation that the reference being used had been retracted, and the remainder were unable to be evaluated.

Conclusion There were relatively few dentally related retractions as a percentage of the total number of publications. However, authors who used retracted articles as citations created a potential negative impact on the presentation and sharing of dental research, specifically in oral hygiene and caries management research.