So it turns out that gingivitis is not really an early form of periodontitis. I am beginning to think my nickname should be Dr. Heresy. I have done a fair amount of research recently on this topic and gingivitis is actually the gate keeper to periodontitis, not a mild or early form of it. We know this through several avenues of information. From a tissue level perspective, gingivitis is primarily a T cell mediated response and periondontitis is primarily a B cell and plasma cell mediated response. From a clinical level we know that progression of gingivitis to periodontitis does not occur automatically, does not occur in every patient, and does not occur in every site. We also know that periodontitis only occurs in genetically susceptible individuals. The most surprising result of my research is that most of this is not new info at all. How the heck it was not widely acknowledged is stunning to me, unless of course it was and I was the only one in the dark. Much more to follow. Any and all thoughts welcome as always.
Richard H. Nagelberg, DDS
Every patient, every time, any level of perio disease
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