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Aim: To assess the online attention to research in the field of Periodontology. To assess the correlation between the Altmetric Attention Score (AAS) and the citations count in Web of Science (WOS), Scopus and Dimensions. Material and Methods: The articles were identified by a search performed through the Dimensions Free App. The search included the six journals related to periodontology listed in the Journal Citation Report (JCR) in the year 2017. The 200 articles with the highest AAS were collected and screened for data related to publication, authorship and research. Citations were harvested from WOS, Scopus and Dimensions. Results: The Journal of Clinical Periodontology was the most prevalent publication accounting for the 51, 5% of the published items followed by the Journal of Periodontology that published the 34, 5% of the 200 articles with the highest AAS. 65% of these articles were published between 2013 and 2018. The mean AAS was 33, 81 being Tweets and news outlets the most frequent Altmetric resources. Systematic reviews were the most prevalent study design. The correlation between the AAS and the citations in WOS, Dimensions and Scopus was poor. A strong correlation exists between the citations in WOS, Dimensions and Scopus. Conclusions: Online attention to periodontal research is high. Systemic interaction studies had a significantly higher visibility. The classic citations count in combination with the AAS can offer a more comprehensive insight into research by highlighting what is valuable for the researcher and for the lay persons. The online profile of journals should be edited to facilitate spread of research information in non-scholar audiences.

BackgroundTraditional metrics have been extensively used to evaluate the scientific performance. Despite being widespread accepted, citation‐based metrics are not able to describe the social impact of research. A diverse metric, Altmetric, was proposed to overcome those limitations.AimThis study aims to analyse the social impact of research in the field of paediatric dentistry and to assess if a correlation exists between the JCR citations, the AAS score, and the recently released Dimensions citation count.DesignA bibliometric study was conducted on the four journals related to Paediatric Dentistry listed in the JCR from 2014 to 2017. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the articles and the journals. Pearson's correlation analysis was used to explore the relationship among JCR citations, AAS, and Dimensions.ResultsThe percentage of articles with an AAS presents a huge variability and was significantly higher in the International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry. In our sample, the correlation between the JCR citation count and the AAS was poor in the years 2014, 2015, and 2016 and low in 2017. The correlation between JCR citation and Dimensions citation count was strong.ConclusionsThe social impact of research in paediatric dentistry can be increased. Dimensions could be an alternative to the JCR. Both the editors and the researcher should change their vision and facilitate the access to research information to scholar and non‐scholar audiences.

Background To describe the impact of research, beyond the limits of the academic environment, Altmetric, a new social and traditional media metric was proposed. The aims of this study were to analyze the online activity related to orthodontic research via Altmetric and to assess if a correlation exists among citations, Mendeley reader count, and the AAS (Altmetric Attention Score). Method The Dimensions App was searched for articles published in the orthodontic journals listed in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) throughout the years 2014 to 2018. The articles with a positive AAS were collected and screened for data related to publication and authorship. The articles with an AAS higher than 5 were screened for research topic and study design. Citation counts were harvested from Web of Science (WOS) and Scopus. Results The best performing journals were Progress in Orthodontics and the European Journal of Orthodontics with a mean AAS per published item of 1.455 and 1.351, respectively and the most prevalent sources were Tweets and Facebook mentions. The most prevalent topic was Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQOL) and the study design was systematic reviews. The correlation between the AAS and the citations in both WOS and Scopus was poor (r = 0.1463 and r = 0.1508, p < .05). The correlation between citations count and Mendeley reader (r = 0.6879 and r = 0.697, p < .05) was moderate. Conclusions Few journals displayed a high level of web activity. Journals and editors should enhance online dissemination of the scientific outputs. The authors should report the impact of the findings to the general public in a convenient way to facilitate online dissemination but to avoid an opportunistic use of the research outputs. Despite the lack of correlation, a combination of the citation count and the AAS can give a more comprehensive assessment of research impact.

Background Understanding patient perspective is a key factor in improving treatment satisfaction. The aim of the present study is to qualitatively describe the content of Twitter posts related to the treatment with Invisalign in order to get a better understanding of patient experience. Material and Methods Tweets were prospectively collected during a period of four weeks from public available posts on Twitter using Awario™ a bespoke social media monitoring tool. After applying the pertinent inclusion and exclusion criteria the selected posts were analysed by three investigators using thematic analysis. Specific themes and subthemes were developed. Results A total of 1564 tweets were analysed; three mayor themes were identified: Pre-treatment related, Treatment related and Patient/clinician relationship. Pre-treatment posts were mainly positive and underlined patients’ expectations, while in the treatment phase an almost equal number of positive and negative posts were found. The positive post were about the satisfaction with treatment and the improvement of self-esteem. The negative ones were related to pain, compliance, the impact on diet and pronunciation. Conclusions The present study provides a better understanding of patients’ experience during clear aligners treatment. Increasing the awareness of the clinicians can improve their ability to face problems related to the orthodontic treatment and to provide to their patients better professional advices and counselling. Key words: Social media, twitter, clear aligners, Invisalign, orthodontics.

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Purpose To analyze the state of scientific publications in multifocal contact lenses field through a bibliometric study. Methods The database used to carry out the study was SCOPUS and contained the descriptors “multifocal contact lens”, “bifocal contact lenses”, “progressive contact lenses” and “presbyopia contact lenses”, limited to the fields of title, keywords and abstract. The indicators applied in this research were: doubling time and annual growth rate, Price’s transience index, Lotka’s law of scientific productivity, and Bradford’s zones. Results A total of 346 articles were published between 1960 and 2019. The growth in the number of publications matches the exponential adjustment slightly better (R = 0.53). The duplication time was 13.2 years. The productivity level is focused on articles with an average number of authors of just 2.06 per article. The Bradford core was formed by two journals, Optometry and Vision Science and Eye and Contact Lens. Conclusions Research on multifocal contact lenses has exponential growth, without evidence of having reached a saturation point. The main countries in scientific production in this field are the United States and Australia.

Sex estimates is a key step of biological profile assessment in a forensic or anthropologic context. In this study, the sexual dimorphism of the frontal bone was analyzed to assess the accuracy of sex estimates using a geometric morphometric approach in a pre-pubertal and post-pubertal sample. The shape of the frontal bone was digitized on the lateral cephalograms of 87 pre-pubertal subjects (42 males, mean age 10.14, SD ± 1.48 years; 45 females mean age 10.02, SD ± 1.11 years) and 103 post-pubertal ones (53 males, mean age 29.33 SD ± 11.88 years; 50 females, mean age 26.77 SD ± 11.07 years). A generalized Procrustes analysis (GPA) was performed for shape analyses, filtering the effects of position, rotation, translation, and size. A principal component analysis (PCA) was performed on the GPA transformed variables, and a multiple logistic regression model was used to assess the accuracy of sex estimates. In both age groups, the average size of the centroid was significantly larger in males. The females presented shapes with a shorter distance between P2 (glabella) and P1 (supratoral) and a general narrowing of the structure on the sagittal plane. In the pre-pubertal group, the shape difference was not statistically significant. In the post-pubertal group, the mean shape was significantly different between the sexes. The method displayed a high accuracy for sex estimates (88.7% males, 90.3% females) also when applied in a validation sample (82.6% males and 94.1% females). The described morphometric analysis of the frontal bone is based on a limited number of landmarks, which allows sex estimates with high accuracy in post-pubertal subjects, while it is not applicable in pre-pubertal ones.