Perio Prediction Tool to be Trialled on UK Patients

January 2010: Ten UK dental primary care practices have been recruited to an important and innovative Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) involving PreViser, the periodontal risk assessment software. The aim of the trial is to quantify its impact on periodontal health and to assess whether the online programme has a motivational impact on patients.

PreViser is a validated internet-based software tool which can assess patients' gum health in a simple and objective way. Data is entered into a simple input screen and transmitted to a server in an encrypted format. Within seconds, the system returns a personalised report on the patient's current periodontal status and future periodontal risk.

The practices involved in the trial all belong to the Product Research and Evaluation Panel (PREP), established by Professor Trevor Burke of Birmingham University. The panel usually evaluates new dental materials in general practice, making the PreViser trial a first for the 10 practices involved. PreViser is already being used in practices in the UK and can be downloaded for a free 30 day trial at www.previser.co.uk

PreViser is owned by a US company which has awarded an exclusive licence to Birmingham-based Oral Health Innovations Ltd to market it in the UK and Ireland. Liz Chapple is director of OHI Ltd, a company co-owned by the University of Birmingham. A percentage of profits will go the UK's Oral and Dental Research Trust and a further profit share to funding PhD students at Birmingham's Dental School.

Liz explained that the new trial of PreViser is valuable because previous studies have focused on the experience of clinicians. She commented: "The engagement of patients is an important aspect of the product since once their risk is identified, they are encouraged to take control of their lifestyle factors such as smoking and oral hygiene."

She added: Risk assessment of patients is becoming an established healthcare process. It is already being used in medicine to guide care pathways and it will happen in dentistry. At the moment, PreViser is the only evidence-based tool for risk assessment that there is for dental practices."

Several dental organisations and companies which provide dental maintenance plans are interested in PreViser, she said, and Denplan Excel dentists were the first to trial it in UK practices. PreViser is available free to the UK's dental schools who have started to incorporate it into undergraduate and graduate courses.

She said that for PreViser to be trialled most effectively, the entire dental team needed to buy into the RCT. While dentists will collect the data, hygienists and dental nurses will be trained to go through the reports with patients and reception teams would be answering any additional queries.

It is this aspect which appeals to dental consultant, Sheila Scott, who believes that it has great potential for focusing practices on communicating dental health to their patients. One of her clients is Stafford Street Dental Care in Edinburgh which has started providing PreViser assessments to patients. Gilly Maidment is co-principal of Stafford Street Dental Care with her husband Yann and they are already finding the software an effective adjunct to patient communication. She commented: "We think PreViser is brilliant - it's fantastic for explaining to patients. All patients seem to get the message."

Iain Chapple, Professor of Periodontology and Consultant in Restorative Dentistry at Birmingham, has adapted PreViser for the UK market using the current evidence base and has created the protocols for the PREP panel trial. He commented on PreViser: "one of its biggest benefits is the immediate and personalized biofeedback it offers to patients. This trial will allow us to assess how well PreViser motivates patients to take personal responsibility for their own oral health."

For further information, please contact Caroline Holland on 020 8679 9595 or 07974 731396