Needs-based dental care – A model for the future

In June 2024, the Dental and Pharmaceuticals Benefits Agency (TLV) was tasked by the Swedish government to support the National Board of Health and Welfare in the development of a national risk assessment model for dental care. The aim of the model is to identify patients with higher risk of requiring more dental care interventions in the future. TLV’s proposed model is based on an automated decision-making support system backed by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The model categorizes patients into groups based on their risk for future problems with dental health. This tool, once it is validated and implemented, is designed to promote more uniform assessments of risk in the Swedish dental care, a more just distribution of dental care resources and increased control over the national dental benefit system.

An AI-model can save time

The design of the model aims to ensure that administration is not increased. Instead, it serves as support for dentists and dental hygienists and provides dental care staff with enhanced information for optimal decision-making. AI in combination with clinician’s knowledge and experience makes risk assessment more accurate. An AI model can save time and handle a large number of assessments at a low administrative cost for both the Swedish Insurance Agency and the healthcare providers, ensuring that patients’ dental care needs can be calculated in an objective and uniform manner across the entire country.

The model assesses the risk of potential dental health diseases

Dental practitioners can use the model to assess a patient’s risk of future dental health problems. The model has been developed in collaboration with biostatisticians, life science experts, and data scientists. This collaboration was based on the common strategies developed by TLV, the National Board of Health and Welfare, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency and Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Assessment of Social Services. This work is a first step towards developing scientifically sound prediction models for Swedish dental care.

Facts:

A prediction model is a statistical tool that uses information about earlier events to predict future outcomes.