[Today's position on etiology and pathogenesis of periodontal diseases]

Page and Schroeder (1982) introduced a preliminary classification of the marginal periodontitis. Destructive forms like prepubertal, juvenile and rapidly progressive periodontitis seem to be associated with functionally defects of the leucocytes and monocytes. Some authors assign these different forms a specific subgingival microflora, although is seems to be too early, to name single microorganism as causative bacteria for different forms of marginal periodontitis. The destruction of the marginal periodontium during acute bursts might also be caused be an imbalance between the host response and the composition of the subgingival microflora.