Introduction: The purpose of this study was to identify the 100 top-cited articles published in journals dedicated to endodontology and analyze their characteristics to describe the quality and evolution of research in the field of endodontology.

Methods: The Institute for Scientific Information Web of Knowledge Database and the Journal Citation Report Science Editions were used to retrieve the 100 most cited articles published in journals dedicated to endodontics. The top-cited articles were selected and analyzed with regard to journals, authors, institution, country of origin, publication title and year, number of citations, article type, study design, level of evidence, and field of study.

Results: The top 100 articles were cited between 87 and 554 times. These articles appeared in 4 different journals, with more than half in the Journal of Endodontics, followed by the journals Oral Surgery Oral Medicine Oral Pathology Oral Radiology and Endodontology, the International Endodontic Journal, and Endodontics & Dental Traumatology. Forty-eight articles were published between 1990 and 1999. All articles were published in English and primarily originated from the United States (n = 52). The majority of articles were basic science articles (n = 55), followed by clinical research studies (n = 28) and nonsystematic reviews (n = 17). Uncontrolled case series with level IV of evidence and narrative reviews with level V of evidence were the most frequent types of study design. The main topics covered by the top-cited articles were microleakage and endodontic microbiology.

Conclusions: This analysis of citation rates reveals useful and interesting information about scientific progress in the field of endodontics. Basic research and observational studies published in high-impact endodontic journals had the highest citation rates.