Why is genetics not used to assess risk?
Approximately 50% of periodontitis is believed to be explained by genetics. However periodontitis is a complex disease and not currently explained by one gene: it is polygenetic and we don’t understand what the genetic risk factors for periodontitis are. Moreover, a genetic predisposition to periodontitis does not mean a patient will definitely develop it. However, PreViser accommodates genetics by assessing the outcome of genetic predisposition to periodontitis, i.e. it accounts for the severity and extent of periodontal disease experienced for a given patient age. Historical attachment loss is one of the best predictors of future attachment loss and a young patient with 50% attachment loss will be assigned a higher score than an older patient with the same disease status and medical / dental history.
