An emerging new standard of care: initial and continued treatment for patients with signs and symptoms of active periodontal disease.

A growing knowledge of periodontal disease has improved dentists' understanding of the disease's etiology, pathophysiology, and natural history. This increased expertise has allowed treatment strategy and outcomes to improve. General dentists are the first to diagnose and treat the disease and it is important for them to understand both the disease and the new methods of treatment. Locally administered time-released antibiotics target specific microorganisms and may inhibit the action of collagenase, an extremely destructive enzyme that is released into periodontal tissues via the host response. This article reviews the disease process and presents a new standard of care that combines traditional debridement with locally administered antibiotics, offering a variety of treatment modalities to general dentists.