Bridging the communication gap for effective periodontal care

In recent years, the rise of AI chatbots and social media has significantly changed how people access medical information. While this paradigm shift has empowered many patients to learn about their health, it has also introduced new challenges, particularly misinformation, anxiety, and miscommunication.

As dental professionals, we have witnessed firsthand how patients now come into the clinic with conflicting information, unrealistic expectations, or deep uncertainty, all of which can undermine trust and even compromise treatment outcomes.

PerioTrust was created in response to this growing communication gap. Our goal is simple but urgent: to improve the clarity, consistency, and accessibility of information exchanged between periodontists and patients. PerioTrust aims to support both sides of the conversation, helping patients understand their treatment and empowering professionals to communicate more effectively, without adding to their workload.

The concept began when we were living and studying in Europe, where we were exposed to a wave of technological innovation and digital entrepreneurship in the health sector. With our background in periodontology, digital dentistry, and experience working in a healthcare startup, we recognized an opportunity to apply these ideas to a long-standing challenge in dental practice: how to make complex and often very technical information more accessible to patients from diverse backgrounds, including those with limited health literacy or language barriers.

At its core, PerioTrust is a web-based platform that can be integrated into the clinical workflow. It allows dental professionals to generate personalized, patient-friendly summaries after each consultation. These summaries include clear explanations of diagnoses, the treatments performed, oral-hygiene instructions, and the next steps, and are delivered via email or as printouts. They can also be made available in multiple languages with the help of large language models (LLMs). All content is reviewed by clinicians and is based on the latest evidence, helping patients distinguish between verified medical advice and internet myths.

One of the major challenges we faced was ensuring that the platform was inclusive. Not every patient has equal access to digital tools or the same level of health understanding. We addressed this by building in multilingual support, printout options, and visual aids. We also tested the system with patients of different backgrounds to refine the interface and the wording.

From the clinician’s side, another hurdle was ensuring that the system did not become a burden. Dentists are already stretched in terms of time, so any new tool must respect that fact. PerioTrust integrates AI-assisted drafting and templates into existing electronic health record (EHR) systems to ensure efficient report generation, with full customization to align with individual clinicians’ communication styles and treatment philosophies.