There is a paucity of economic evaluations of prediction methods of caries and periodontitis—A systematic review

OBJECTIVES: Direct cost for methods of prediction also named risk assessment in dentistry may be negligible compared with the cost of extensive constructions. On the other hand, as risk assessment is performed daily and for several patients in general dental practice, the costs may be considerable. The objective was to summarize evidence in studies of economic evaluation of prognostic prediction multivariable models and methods of caries and periodontitis and to identify knowledge gaps (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020149763). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Four electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, NHS Economic Evaluation Database) and reference lists of included studies were searched. Titles and abstracts were screened by two reviewers in parallel. Full‐text studies reporting resources used, costs and cost‐effectiveness of prediction models and methods were selected and critically appraised using a protocol based on items from the CHEERS checklist for economic evaluations and the CHARMS checklist for evaluation of prediction studies. RESULTS: From 38 selected studies, six studies on prediction fulfilled the eligibility criteria, four on caries and two on periodontitis. As the economic evaluations differed in method and perspective among the studies, the results could not be generalized. Our systematic review revealed methodological shortcomings regarding the description of predictive models and methods, and particularly of the economic evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: The systematic review highlighted a paucity of economic evaluations regarding methods or multivariable models for prediction of caries and periodontitis. Our results indicate that what we currently practice using models and methods to predict caries and periodontitis lacks evidence regarding cost‐effectiveness.