This cost effectiveness study is based on a data from a randomised controlled trial published by Jönsson et al (2010), that trial compared an individually tailored oral health educational programme (ITOHEP) on periodontal health with a standard oral health educational programme. and found,
ITOHEP intervention in combination with scaling is preferable to the standard programme in non-surgical periodontal treatment.
The aim of this study was to compare costs and consequences of two oral health educational programmes used in non-surgical treatment of patients with chronic periodontitis.
What did they do
They assessed the costs and consequences 12 months after two different active treatments delivered as during randomised controlled trial. The cots were related to the treatment proviso ion and patients opportunity costs ( eg travel costs). The consequences (outcome) were expressed as the proportion of individuals classified as having reached the pre-set criteria for treatment success after non-surgical treatment (successful-NSPT).
What did they find
More individuals in the ITOHEP group reached the pre-set criteria for treatment success than individuals in the ST group did. The CEA revealed an incremental cost-effectiveness of SEK1724 [€191.09; SEK9.02 = €1 (January 2007)] per successful-NSPT case, of which treatment costs represented SEK1189 (€131.82), using the unit cost for a dental hygienist.
The authors concluded
The incremental costs per successful-NSPT case can be considered as low and strengthens the suggestion that an ITOHEP integrated into non-surgical periodontal treatment is preferable to a standardized education programme.
Comment
Good cost effectiveness studies are not common in dentistry. A search of the NHS EED (NHS Economic Evaluation Database) which is produced by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at the University of York and is one of the constituent databases of the Cochrane Library using the search term [periodont*] only yields 8 hits the term [dental] only yield 69 and [caries] only 32. This can be compared with 383 for [diabetes].
Links
Jönsson B, Ohrn K, Lindberg P, Oscarson N. Cost-effectiveness of an individually tailored oral health educational programme based on cognitive behavioural strategies in non-surgical periodontal treatment. J Clin Periodontol. 2012 Jul;39(7):659-65. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-051X.2012.01898.x. Epub 2012 May 22.PubMed PMID: 22612765.
Jönsson B, Ohrn K, Lindberg P, Oscarson N. Evaluation of an individually tailored oral health educational programme on periodontal health. J Clin Periodontol. 2010 Oct;37(10):912-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-051X.2010.01590.x. PubMed PMID: 20561115.
