Abstract

Biofilms are complex aggregations of microorganisms formed in any situation where there is contact with superfaces solids, liquids or gases. This study aims to map the international scientific literature on the formation, bacterial adhesion, prevention and treatment of oral biofilms. There were 921 published articles in 274 different journals indexed in the Web of Science, in the 1991-2015 year period. These articles were written by 2804 authors linked to 695 institutions in 59 countries, notably the United States and the United Kingdom. The 17 articles of greater impact were published in the 1995-2009 year period. The relationship between the most important articles shows that the issue is addressed in a broad and diversified approach, points out to a range of possibilities for prevention and treatment, and uses of experimental methods that list mechanisms and combinations able to enter the structure of the biofilm, elucidate the formation process, to bacterial adhesion and to reduce pathogenic bacterial activity and, in some cases, destroying their structure. The descriptive analysis of the main work has shown potential for the development of the area and contributions to improve the prevention and treatment of oral biofilms.

Key words: Dental plaque, biofilm, bibliometric analysis.