Oral Health
A first for companion animals: New AI-assisted model provides early warning of canine oral health risks.
Periodontal disease is one of the most prevalent, chronic but underdiagnosed diseases in dogs.
Scientists at the Waltham Petcare Science Institute have now developed a new kind of unique, reliable AI-powered risk assessment that can be used to enhance existing tools to better detect canine periodontal disease. This new science – published by O’Flynn et al in Frontiers in Veterinary Science - brings a level of predictive technology already trusted in human medicine to the world of companion animals for the very first time. This has implications for earlier and more accurate diagnosis, that could facilitate more personalised preventive care plans.
An innovative AI tool to identify periodontal risk, before it happens
The enhanced model uses a hybrid causal Bayesian network, a type of artificial intelligence framework that can analyse complex relationships between various risk factors. By doing this, it can predict the likelihood of a dog having periodontal disease through a transparent, verifiable approach that puts trust and reliability at the forefront of veterinary diagnostics.
This tool is a true innovation through its use of ‘explainable AI.’ Unlike many AI systems where the decision-making process is opaque, our model’s reasoning is built on a foundation of expert knowledge and transparent logic. Every step of its analysis can be reviewed, challenged, and validated by humans. This approach ensures its conclusions are not just predictions, but are reliable, evidence-based insights that can be used with complete confidence.
Robust insights drawn from millions of real-world data points
The model combines a vast amount of data from different sources, including 9.5 million electronic health records, 2,600 owner questionnaires, previous studies, and deep technical expert knowledge from veterinarians, to identify key risk factors. These include:
Breed and size: Smaller dog breeds are at a significantly higher risk.
Age: The risk of periodontal disease increases with age.
Head shape: The model considers the dog's head shape as a risk factor.
Quality of home dental care: Lack of home dental care is a major contributor to the disease.
The model doesn’t just identify these risk factors, it goes beyond this to successfully quantify the probability of a dog having periodontal disease based on the presence of these factors. The study tested the tool against four independent datasets and showed robust performance in predicting which dogs were most at risk of having periodontal disease.
Benefits for veterinary care
The model will allow for more comprehensive and accurate results, helping to take the guesswork out of risk assessments. By the time clinical signs of periodontal disease are obvious, the disease may be advanced, so the ability to identify at-risk dogs earlier is a gamechanger.
In the future, veterinarians will be able to use the adapted tool to carry out more comprehensive screening of dogs during routine check-ups to provide more detailed evidence to share with pet owners and inspire conversations around oral health and preventive care tailored to their dog's needs.
They can move from a simple checklist of periodontal risk factors to a model that accounts for the complex interactions between:
Genetics
Anatomy
Lifestyle, and
Clinical signs
This helps veterinarians predict expected relationships between morphological features of dogs, their lifestyles, and the associated periodontal disease risk.
Benefits for pet owners
The tool will provide a powerful visual aid for veterinarians to show owners, to help explain their dogs’ individual risks and increase awareness. This emphasises the importance of preventive measures and encourages owner compliance with the care that has been recommended.
Benefits for dogs
Untreated periodontal disease is progressive and can extend to tooth loss and beyond to affect organs and overall systemic health. Transforming how periodontal disease is diagnosed, managed, and ultimately prevented could lead to reduced suffering and better health outcomes for countless dogs.
Embracing the future of canine care
This research represents an exciting and significant advancement in veterinary dentistry, supporting clinical decision-making where traditional epidemiological approaches may face limitations.
By using AI to better understand periodontal disease risk, we’re paving the way for proactive and personalised dental care for our canine companions, benefiting veterinarians, owners and dogs.
We are proud to continue building A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS through scientific breakthroughs like this. In the future, this new model could help ensure the health and wellbeing of countless dogs.
