Natural products derived from herbal medicine have been extensively researched in the alternative treatment of various inflammatory diseases including periodontitis. The purpose of this study was to analyze the scientometric characteristics of herbal medicine in periodontics research with emphasis on the identification of the herbaceous agents.

A total of 600 articles on herbal medicine in periodontics research were retrieved. The total citation count was 9663 and the h index was 50 for all the articles. The keywords of the study design, experiment methods, clinical and laboratory aspects such as randomized controlled trial, pathology, protein expression, pathogenic bacteria, cytokines, metabolism, macrophages, molecular docking, and drug delivery were included. Various herbs such as green tea, ginger rhizome, propolis, resveratrol, justicia glauca, althaea officinalis, arnica montana, hamamelis virginiana, aloe vera, grape seed proanthocyanidin, and berberine were frequently cited in the treatment of periodontitis. These herbs have been reported to exhibit a range of therapeutic effects, including antiinfective, antiinflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant, antifungal, and antimicrobial properties.

This study for the first time elucidated the scientometric characteristics of all the articles on herbal medicine in periodontics, and would provide new insights for researchers to comprehend the identification of the herbaceous agents for periodontal diseases.