Assessment of risk of periodontal disease.

The Periodontal Disease Research Center at the State University of New York at Buffalo has studied two sets of subjects--those with a high prevalence of diabetes (the Pima Indians) and an urban population in Erie County, New York--to determine factors that put a patient at risk for periodontal disease. These and other studies have established that smoking and diabetes are important risk indicators for periodontal disease. Local etiologic factors associated with periodontal disease in adults include the presence of the putative periodontal pathogens Porphyromonas gingivalis and Bacteroides forsythus. Longitudinal studies and intervention studies are needed to fully establish the role of risk indicators. However, information already available from present studies suggests that modulation of risk factors, such as smoking and diabetes mellitus, as well as suppression of the pathogenic flora, will be effective in the management of periodontal disease.