Study says patients at low risk for periodontal disease might be able to cut dentist visits to once a year
August 6, 2012
Good news for all of your anti-dentitepatients: those at low risk for periodontal disease might be able to cut visits down to once a year!
The University of Michigan has released some of the results from the Periodontal Disease Prevention Study (PDPS) using the PST Genetic Test in determining the frequency of dental cleanings. They compared 5,400 adults who were classified as low risk or high risk patients. High risk patients (53% of the study) had at least one of the following risk factors: smoking, diabetes, or PST positive.
They’ve announced two preliminary findings: first, that there was no significant difference in low risk patients who had two preventive visits per year compared to one preventive visit; and second, that high risk patients who visited every six months saw a significant reduction in percentage of patients who had extractions.
“These results support movement towards more personalized preventive measures for the management of periodontal disease in low risk individuals, while encouraging more preventive care in high risk patients,” said Lewis H. Bender, Chief Executive Officer of Interleukin Genetics.
Read the full article here.
