What is a Colleague Report?

Colleague Reports provide an independent evaluation of the imaging data and treatment plan generated during your diagnostic sessions.

Benefits of using Colleague Report

Incorporates AI and human verification processes to identify blind spots in treatment planning
Recognizes dental pathologies and enhances the patient's dental experience
Minimizes patient harm by ensuring that the treatment plan is evidence-based
Boosts practice profitability by confirming that no evidence-based treatment options have been overlooked

What is the verification workflow?

Patient consultation in the clinic
Creation of patient notes and a treatment plan in Practice Management Software (PMS); image acquisition in the imaging system
Uploading of patient notes, treatment plan, and images to CoTreat
De-identification of data
Initiation of the verification process
Notification sent to clinicians when the Colleague Report is ready

If patient notes, treatment plan and image upload process can be automated if the practice is using Dental4Windows and Centaur Mediasuite.

Areas of Dentistry Covered by Colleague Report

Imaging (OPG, photos, bitewing radiographs)
Periodontal disease
Primary caries
Congenital dental defects and conditions
Tooth-specific wear
Tooth-specific acid erosion
Cracked teeth (CTS)
Broken or chipped teeth
Retained deciduous teeth, supernumerary, unerupted, impacted teeth
Gum recession & non-carious cervical lesions
Endodontics
Extractions (retained roots, hopeless teeth etc)
Other non-malignant odontogenic observations (resorption etc)
Concerns with existing restorations (eg: secondary caries, overhangs, open contacts, RCT without crown, large direct restorations etc)
Orthodontics
Wisdom teeth
Restorable edentulous space
Aesthetics (whitening, veneers etc)

Note: Colleague Reports are not diagnostic; they offer observations based on available imaging data and assess the evidence supporting the proposed treatment. CoTreat does not screen for oral cancer, lymphadenopathy, or other soft tissue anomalies. Dentists are still required to perform comprehensive or periodic oral examinations.

The verification process

Initial Analysis by CoTreat AI

During the AI analysis, the following steps occur:

De-identification of patient images to safeguard personal data
Classification of image types
Identification and labeling of teeth with their FDI numbers
Suggestion of observations where sufficient training data is available

Human Verification

After AI processing, the case moves to our human verification phase:

An assigned human verifier reviews the report
Relevant images and observations are recorded for each checklist item:
- Insufficient data for observation
- NAD (No Abnormality Detected)
- Category-specific observations selected from a dropdown list, based on reputable guidelines
- Location of pathology or issue is noted
Each treatment plan item is checked for sufficient supporting evidence
- Verifier provides an assessment, such as:
  - Insufficient data
  - Treatment is appropriate
  - Query this treatment (flagged for potential harm)
- Submission for review

Second Human Review

A different human verifier reviews and gives final approval to the report.

Verification Report Finished

The report is finalized, presenting all findings to help align treatment plans with evidence-based guidelines.