Future diagnostic possibilities in periodontology

From the clinical point of view the possibility of predicting the evolution of periodontal disease is currently lacking. In order to properly plan periodontal treatment it is necessary to determine specific risk categories, specification of risk patients within the risk categories and the risk sites in each patient. In order to achieve this goal it is necessary to base research on: epidemiological data, individual characteristics and specific diagnostic tests which anticipate the evolution of the disease. Tests which enable the indentification of the causative agents and those which characterise host response are particularly interesting owing to their possible clinical application. The current state of research suggests that in the future easily applied tests will be available to satisfy the above diagnostic requirements.