Juvenile periodontitis--a review of literature

Juvenile Periodontitis (JP), a condition that was previously regarded as a rare disease has of recent come into the fore as a model for the study of inflammatory periodontal disease. It has also been found to be considerably more common in occurrence than previously thought. This article reviews the literature on the epidemiology, aetiology, pathogenesis, clinical features, histopathological and immunological findings, differential diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of JP. The objective of this article is to give the clinician the current opinions of researchers in all aspects of the disease as compared to previous age long views. It is observed that there are contradictory reports on the epidemiology, etiology and treatment of the disease and hence the need for further studies in these areas.