Background and Objective:
Periodontitis and gingivitis are highly prevalent oral diseases that require accurate diagnostic classification and continuous gingival health monitoring. This study aims to develop, internally validate, and externally evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of artificial intelligence (AI) models for periodontitis staging and gingival inflammation assessment at both tooth and patient levels.
Study Design:
This is a multi-center observational study utilizing a large-scale primary clinical dataset for model development. To rigorously evaluate the generalizability of the trained AI models, two distinct pathways of independent external validation will be implemented across multiple clinical sites.
Research Phases \& Validation Architecture:
Phase 1 (Periodontitis Diagnosis via Probing): Development of an AI model to diagnose periodontitis (binary classification: stage 0/I vs. stage II/III/IV) at both tooth and patient levels, using comprehensive clinical periodontal probing as the gold standard. External Validation I will be performed using an independent cohort from another campus of the primary hospital to test the model's diagnostic accuracy.
Phase 2 (Periodontitis Diagnosis via Radiographs): Development of an AI model to diagnose periodontitis (binary classification: stage 0/I vs. stage II/III/IV) at both tooth and patient levels, using digital panoramic radiographs as the reference standard. External Validation II will be conducted using distinct, independent image datasets acquired from two separate regional hospitals to evaluate geographic generalizability.
Phase 3 (Gingival Inflammation Monitoring): Development of an AI model to monitor and assess gingival inflammation at both tooth and patient levels, based on Probing Depth (PD) and Bleeding on Probing (BOP) as the gold standard. This model's performance will also be evaluated through External Validation I using the independent dataset from the primary hospital's alternative campus.
Significance:
By validating the AI models across varied institutional workflows and imaging systems, this study will provide high-level evidence on the clinical utility and robustness of AI-driven digital systems for automated periodontal screening and long-term health monitoring.