Periodontology 2000, Vol.

30, 2002, 9–23 Copyright C Blackwell Munksgaard 2002

Printed in Denmark. All rights reserved PERIODONTOLOGY 2000
ISSN 0906-6713

Classifying periodontal
diseases – a long-standing
dilemma
G C. A

A long-standing dilemma have been superimposed on a matrix of older ideas

that are still considered to be valid. Only those ideas
Any attempt to group the entire constellation of peri- that are believed to be clearly outmoded or incorrect
odontal diseases into an orderly and widely accepted have been discarded. In a sense, the newest or domi-
classification system is fraught with difficulty, and nant paradigm rests on a foundation of the still valid
inevitably considerable controversy. No matter how components of the older or previous paradigms.
carefully the classification is developed, and how One of the interesting historical features of classi-
much thought and time are invested in the process, fication systems is the often intense resistance to
choices need to be made between equally unsatis- their modification. Many people appear to believe
factory alternatives. Despite this dilemma, in the that classification systems are rigid and fixed entities
past hundred years, experts have periodically as- that should not be changed. In fact, classification
sembled to develop a new classification system for systems should be viewed as dynamic works-in-pro-
periodontal diseases, or to refine an existing one (1, gress that need to be periodically modified based on
2, 4, 5, 11, 19, 58, 80, 81, 86, 91, 106, 122, 139). current thinking and new knowledge. Unfortunately,
it seems that once people learn and accept a given
classification, no matter how flawed it may be, they
are extremely reluctant to accept revisions to their
Dominant paradigms in the favorite system of nomenclature. One group of ex-
historical development of perts on the 1949 Nomenclature Committee of the
classification systems American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) ex-
pressed their frustration with this subject by stating,
The development and evolution of classification sys- ‘The 1949 Nomenclature Committee is somewhat
tems for periodontal diseases have been largely in- pessimistic regarding the possibility of this or any
fluenced by paradigms that reflect the understand- similar report receiving immediate and enthusiastic
ing of the nature of periodontal diseases during a acceptance. Most periodontists have used their own
given historical period. Over time, thoughts that terms for so long that any suggested change is re-
guided the classification of periodontal diseases can sisted and resented.’ (81)
be placed into three dominant paradigms primarily
based on the clinical features of the diseases
Clinical characteristics paradigm
(⬃1870–1920), the concepts of classical pathology
(⬃1920–1970), and the infectious etiology of the dis- For the period from approximately 1870 to 1920 very
eases (⬃1970–present). Classification systems in the little was known about the etiology and pathogenesis
modern era represent a blend of all three paradigms of periodontal diseases. Accordingly, the diseases
since there is a certain amount of validity to some of were classified almost entirely on the basis of their
the earliest thoughts about the nature of periodontal clinical characteristics supplemented by unsubstan-
diseases (2, 4, 5). As classification systems have tiated theories about their cause. At the time, one
evolved, newer thoughts about periodontal diseases of the main debates about the nature of periodontal

9
Armitage

diseases was whether they were caused by local or is initiated and continued without any visible
systemic factors. Most authors considered these dis- mechanical irritant in many cases; and I believe
eases to be primarily caused by local factors (16, 53, the death of the peridental membrane, depriving
93, 111, 112, 125, 127, 136, 149), whereas some be- the alveolus of nutrition, accounts for the death
lieved that systemic disturbances played a dominant and disintegration of the bone; or, as is believed
etiological role (32, 97, 114, 115). Many of the advo- by some, among them Dr Waters, of Boston, the
cates for the etiological role of local factors also ac- alveolus is destroyed by vegetable parasites’.
knowledged that in some cases both local and sys-
temic factors were important (93, 112, 113, 136). In Similarly, in 1886 G.V. Black (15) published his
the late 1800s and early 1900s clinicians used case thoughts on the classification of periodontal diseases
descriptions and their personal interpretation of based on their clinical characteristics and his under-
what they saw clinically as the primary basis for standing of their cause into five separate groups.
classifying periodontal diseases (15, 17, 28, 53, 111–
113, 125, 127, 136, 137, 149). They expressed their O constitutional gingivitis; including mercurial gingi-
opinions, often with great fervor and conviction, in vitis, potassium iodide gingivitis and scurvy.
oral presentations before local and national meet- O a painful form of gingivitis. Black described a clin-
ings of dental or medical societies. Their opinions ical condition that resembled what is now termed
survive in the literature in the form of written ab- necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis (NUG), but he
stracts or summaries of the proceedings of these never used the term.
meetings. In many cases the summaries were written O simple gingivitis. This was associated with the ac-
not by the presenter of the paper, but by the editor cumulation of debris that eventually led to ‘calcic
of the proceedings (125, 127). Indeed, John M. inflammation of the peridental membrane.’
Riggs(1811–1875), an American dentist who lectured O calcic inflammation of the peridental membrane.
so widely on the treatment of periodontal diseases This was associated with ‘salivary’ and/or ‘serumal’
that periodontitis was called ‘Riggs’ disease’ by many calculus. Usually there was an even or generalized
of his colleagues, rarely published any papers on the pattern of destruction of alveolar bone. The de-
subject (89). Riggs’ thoughts and opinions were most struction usually occurred slowly. Black’s descrip-
often summarized by others (94–96, 127). tion best fits the periodontal disease that is now
Formal papers on the classification of periodontal known as chronic periodontitis.
diseases were rare in the late 1800s and early 1900s. O phagedenic pericementitis (phagedenic Ω spread-
Typical publications on the subject usually repre- ing ulcer or necrosis). This condition shared many
sented the opinion of a single person who almost features with ‘calcic inflammation of the peridental
always based the classification on clinical obser- membrane’ but there was an irregular pattern of
vations and theoretical explanations of causation. A destruction and not much dental calculus. De-
good example is a paper published by C.G. Davis in struction of the alveolar bone can occur slowly or
1879 (28) who believed that there were three distinct rapidly. In a later publication Black replaced the
forms of destructive periodontal disease: term ‘phagedenic pericementitis’ with ‘chronic
suppurative pericementitis’ (17).
O Gingival recession with minimal or no inflam-
mation. This was due to ‘... feeble vascular action The point of these historical examples is to emphasize
...’ and trauma from tooth brushing or other that little or no scientific evidence was used to sup-
sources. port the opinions of the clinicians of the time. As one
O Periodontal destruction secondary to ‘lime de- might expect, the number of theories about what
posits’. ‘The gum retires slowly ... and the alveolar caused periodontal diseases, how they should be
border, deprived of nutrition at the point of press- classified, and the terminology used to describe them,
ure, is consentaneously absorbed.’ Davis appar- seem to have approached the number of clinicians
ently believed that calculus exerted mechanical who treated patients with these diseases. By 1929 one
pressure on the gingiva causing the alveolar bone author estimated that there were ‘... over 350 theories
to resorb because of lack of nutrition. of pyorrhea’ and much confusing terminology (10). It
O ‘Riggs’ Disease’ the hallmark of which was, ‘... loss is not surprising then, that no generally accepted ter-
of alveolus without loss of gum.’ The perceived minology or classification system for periodontal dis-
problem was a ‘necrosed alveolus’ or death of the eases was adopted during this era. As a result, in the
periodontal membrane. ‘... we get a disease that latter part of the 19th century periodontitis went

10
 Classifying periodontal diseases

under numerous names including: ‘pyorrhea al- ally be called localized aggressive periodontitis (4).
veolaris’ (19, 53, 93, 111, 112, 125, 136, 137, 149), The impact of Gottlieb’s work on classification sys-
‘Riggs’ disease’ (28, 94–96), ‘calcic inflammation of the tems was profound since it suggested that some
peridental membrane’ (15), ‘phagedenic pericemen- periodontal diseases were degenerative. As a result,
titis’ (15, 19), and ‘chronic suppurative pericementitis’ almost all classification systems used from approxi-
(17). During this period, the dominant term used for mately 1920–1970 included disease categories
destructive periodontal disease was pyorrhea al- labeled as ‘dystrophic’, ‘atrophic’, or ‘degenerative’
veolaris. (Fig. 1). Classification systems of the period were
dominated by the ‘Classical Pathology’ paradigm
which is based on the ‘principles of general pathol-
Classical pathology paradigm
ogy’ as articulated by Orban et al. (104):
(⬃1920–1970)
As the field of periodontology began to mature ‘Periodontal diseases follow the same pattern as do dis-
scientifically in the first half of the 20th century, eases of other organs. There are minor differences which
many clinical scholars in both Europe and North have to be recognized and labeled properly. The basic
pathologic tissue changes, however, are the same as those
America began to develop, and argue about, no- of other organs.’ ‘... According to principles of general path-
menclature and classification systems for peri- ology, there are three major tissue reactions: inflammatory;
odontal diseases (34, 38, 43, 45, 46, 55, 58, 86, 91, dystrophic; neoplastic. Neoplastic changes are not in the
103, 128, 129, 139). What emerged from this debate therapeutic realm of periodontics.
was the concept that there were at least two forms ‘Environmental factors, however, dictate the inclusion of
a third and different category of pathologic reaction in Peri-
of destructive periodontal disease inflammatory and odontology ...’ ‘... pathologic reactions ... produced by oc-
noninflammatory (‘degenerative’ or ‘dystrophic’). It clusal trauma’.
had, of course, been known for a very long time that
many periodontal diseases were inflammatory con- Although most classification systems published from
ditions. However, the conclusion that some peri- approximately 1920 to 1970 included a degenerative
odontal diseases were caused by noninflammatory disease category (24, 34, 37, 39, 40, 48, 58, 80, 128, 129,
or degenerative processes was a somewhat novel 139, 144), at the 1966 World Workshop in Periodontics
suggestion. This conclusion was primarily based on serious questions were raised about the existence of
the over-interpretation of histopathological studies ‘periodontosis’ as a distinct disease entity (1). Many in
from a group of Viennese investigators led by Gottli- attendance at that meeting recommended that the
eb and Orban. Gottlieb, in particular, had a signifi- term be discarded. It was not until the next World
cant influence on the field when he postulated that Workshop, held in 1977, that convincing arguments
certain forms of destructive periodontal disease were were provided that there was no scientific basis for re-
due to degenerative changes in the periodontium taining the concept that there were noninflammatory
(42–47). He believed that he had discovered histo- or degenerative forms of destructive periodontal dis-
logical evidence of an impairment in the continuous ease (122). Information summarized at that meeting
deposition of cementum (i.e. ‘cementopathia’). This supported the conclusion that ‘periodontosis’ was ac-
cemental defect was presumably initiated by the de- tually an infection and ‘juvenile periodontitis’ should
generation of the principal fibers of the periodontal become the preferred term for this group of diseases.
ligament that eventually resulted in detachment of Indeed, around 1970 a different paradigm (i.e. the ‘In-
connective tissue from the tooth followed by resorp- fection/Host Response Paradigm’) had begun to
tion of adjacent bone (45–47). Other authors postu- dominate thoughts about the nature of periodontal
lated that in some periodontal diseases there was a diseases.
degenerative transformation of alveolar bone into In retrospect it is puzzling that Gottlieb’s concept
fibrous connective tissue (139). of cementopathia was so readily accepted, and for
Gottlieb’s ideas were probably widely accepted be- such a long time. Although there has been an oc-
cause they appeared to explain the long-standing casional report that cemental abnormalities might
and perplexing clinical observation that some young be associated with some forms of periodontal dis-
patients with relatively clean mouths had massive ease (73, 109), there was never any convincing evi-
and localized bone loss with only minimal or no dence that Gottlieb’s hypothesis was right. It is worth
overt signs of gingival inflammation (92, 102, 140, noting, however, that there is a rare condition (i.e.
146). The profession was ready to embrace a plaus- hypophosphatasia) where hypoplasia or absence of
ible etiological explanation for what would eventu- cementum is associated with the early loss of de-

11
Armitage

*Orban (103) based this classification on a combination of his perceptions of the etiol-
ogic, clinical, and pathologic features of the diseases. He grouped them according to Fig. 1. Classification of Periodontal
the ‘‘pathologic’’ categories of Inflammation, Degeneration, Atrophy, Hypertrophy, and
Diseases Following the ‘‘Classical
Traumatism. Similar classifications were published by other authors (Coolidge & Hine
1951 (24), Fish 1944 (34), Goldman et al. 1956 (39), Goldman & Cohen 1968 (40), Grant Pathology’’ Paradigm (Orban 1942)*
et al. 1968 (48), Hine & Hine 1944 (58), Lyons 1946, (80), Wade 1960 (144)). [103]

12
 Classifying periodontal diseases

ciduous teeth (7, 12, 18, 78). Hypophosphatasia is a mately 1880 to 1965 very little headway was made
hereditary disease characterized by low serum levels in establishing bacterial infections as the foundation
of tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase, elevated upon which periodontal diseases should be classi-
levels of urinary phosphoethanolamine, skeletal ab- fied (133). Part of the reluctance of the profession to
normalities resembling rickets, and premature loss accept the idea that most periodontal diseases were
of anterior deciduous teeth (12, 18, 20, 21, 26, 116, infections was an unfortunate preoccupation with
117, 131). In mild forms of the disease the patient’s the notion that some forms of destructive peri-
only complaint may be an unexplained premature odontal diseases were degenerative in nature (i.e.
loosening of anterior primary teeth. Extensive bone domination of the ‘Classical Pathology’ paradigm).
loss can be observed around the affected teeth with In addition, microbiological studies revealed that the
no evidence of root resorption (7, 12). On rare oc- periodontal microflora was exceedingly complex and
casions, posterior deciduous teeth may be affected; no clear group of microorganisms could be causally
permanent teeth do not usually become involved linked to the diseases. It was not until the classical
(70, 116). However, there are a few case reports sug- ‘experimental gingivitis’ studies published by Harald
gesting that cementum may be absent or thin on the Löe and his colleagues from 1965 to 1968 that the
permanent incisors of patients with hypophosphas- Infection/Host Response Paradigm began to move in
tasia (33, 82, 101). There is also a case report in the direction of becoming the dominant paradigm
which the permanent incisors had severe peri- (62, 75, 76, 138). These studies were significant be-
odontitis (147, 148). However, the patient in this re- cause they provided convincing data that relatively
port harbored Porphyromonas gingivalis in his sub- specific changes occurred in the dental plaque flora
gingival flora, suggesting that something other than during the development of gingivitis. The next major
hypoplasia of cementum might have contributed to discovery in periodontal microbiology was the pre-
the periodontal destruction. liminary demonstration in 1976–1977 of microbial
specificity at sites with periodontosis (99, 100). This
finding, coupled with the demonstration in 1977–
Infection/host response paradigm 1979 that neutrophils from patients with juvenile
(⬃1970 to present) periodontitis (periodontosis) had defective chemo-
Soon after the 1876 publication of Robert Koch (64) tactic and phagocytic activities (23, 68), marked the
in which he provided experimental proof of the germ beginning of the dominance of the Infection/Host
theory of disease, some dentists began to suggest Response paradigm. Indeed, these seminal findings
that periodontal diseases might be caused by bac- challenged the validity of the 50-year assumption
teria (53, 93, 136). W.D. Miller (93), in particular, was that degenerative forms of destructive periodontal
an early proponent of the infectious nature of peri- disease existed. What followed was over two decades
odontal diseases: of hard work that firmly established that juvenile
periodontitis, the new name for periodontosis, was
‘In my opinion three factors are to be taken into consider- an infection.
ation in every case of pyorrhea alveolaris: (1) predisposing The next major landmark in the classification of
circumstances, (2) local irritation, (3) bacteria.’ periodontal diseases emerged from the 1989 World
‘... pyorrhea alveolaris is not caused by any specific bac-
terium, which occurs in every case ..., but various bacteria
Workshop in Clinical Periodontics where a new
may participate in it ...’ classification of periodontitis based on the Infec-
tion/Host Response paradigm was suggested (2) (Fig.
Miller also recognized that certain systemic con- 2). The classification was a refinement of one that
ditions (e.g. diabetes, pregnancy) could modify the had been proposed by Page & Schroeder in 1982
course of the disease. Although he spent most of his (106) and a similar one that had been adopted by the
life studying the oral microflora associated with AAP in 1986 (2). Five types of destructive periodontal
caries and periodontal disease, his work had very disease were listed: I, Adult Periodontitis; II, Early
little impact on convincing his contemporaries that Onset Periodontitis; III, Periodontitis Associated with
periodontal diseases were infections (77). He was, Systemic Disease; IV, Necrotizing Ulcerative Peri-
however, an early advocate of the ‘Infection/Host Re- odontitis; and V, Refractory Periodontitis (Fig. 2).
sponse Paradigm’ that would come to dominate the This classification, although soundly based in the In-
field nearly a hundred years later. fection/Host Response paradigm, depended heavily
Despite an extensive amount of work on the on the age of the affected patients (6, 107, 108) and
microbiology of periodontal diseases from approxi- the rates of progression (107). Other important fea-

13
Armitage

tures included the acknowledgment that some forms fractory Periodontitis’ category since it was a hetero-
of periodontitis could be significantly modified by geneous group and it was impossible to standardize
host factors (i.e. the category of ‘Periodontitis Associ- the treatment that necessarily would have to be
ated with Systemic Disease’) and still other forms did given prior to making the diagnosis. In addition, he
not appear to respond well to conventional therapy recommended elimination of the ‘Periodontitis As-
(i.e. the ‘Refractory Periodontitis’ category). At the sociated with Systemic Disease’ category since the,
time the classification was proposed it was recog- ‘... expression of all forms of periodontitis can be
nized that, ‘Overlap exists among categories and modified by some systemic diseases or abnormali-
cases exist that do not clearly fit into any single cat- ties, it is probably better to consider them in that
egory’ (2). In addition, it was acknowledged that specific context, rather than treating them as a
considerable ‘heterogeneity’ existed within the Re- unique category.’ (124) Nevertheless, despite its
fractory Periodontitis category since, ‘... it includes problems, the classification was adopted by the
patients who are unresponsive to any treatment pro- world community as reflected by its widespread use
vided – whatever the thoroughness or frequency – as in the periodontal literature. Its acceptance was fa-
well as patients with recurrent disease at few or cilitated by the ease with which patients could be
many sites. Assignment of refractory cases to other placed into age-based categories (i.e. adult vs. early
categories may be expected to occur as more infor- onset disease). For example, it was logical to assume
mation is acquired.’ (2) Finally, different forms of that children, adolescents and young adults with ex-
periodontitis proposed in the classification shared tensive periodontal destruction had a different
many microbiologic and host response features, group of diseases (i.e. Early Onset Periodontitis)
which suggested extensive overlap and heteroge- compared to adults (defined as people ⱖ 35 years of
neity among the categories (3). age) who had a similar amount of periodontal de-
As a consequence of these problems, the 1989 struction. This particularly seemed to make sense in
classification was criticized shortly after it was pub- the three early onset subcategories of prepubertal,
lished and a different system was proposed by Ran- juvenile and rapidly progressive periodontitis. How-
ney (123, 124). He suggested elimination of the ‘Re- ever, it soon became apparent that there were prob-
lems with some of the assumptions that had been
made.
The disease category of ‘Prepubertal Periodontitis’
was the first to be seriously questioned. In retro-
spect, many of the patients in the original publi-
cation on this disease category (108) turned out to
have either hypophosphatasia (6, 109) or leukocyte
adherence deficiency (LAD) (6). Indeed, it is likely
that most prepubertal children with severe peri-
odontal destruction affecting the deciduous teeth
probably have a systemic disease that increases their
susceptibility to bacterial infections such as: LAD
(90, 145), congenital primary immunodeficiency (8),
chronic neutrophil defects (31, 63) and cyclic neu-
tropenia (118). Such patients should probably have
been properly placed under the general category of
‘Periodontitis Associated with Systemic Disease’.
Among the other problems with the 1989 classifi-
cation were firstly, the uncertainty about the pro-
posal that ‘Rapidly Progressive Periodontitis’ was a
single entity, and secondly, the questionable criteria
used to determine its presence. For example, do cli-
nicians have to actually document that rapid pro-
gression has occurred prior to giving a patient this
Fig. 2. Classification of Various Forms of Periodontitis
diagnosis? To be designated as ‘rapid’, how much
Based on the ‘‘Infection/Host Response’’ Paradigm (World progression has to occur and over what time period?
Workshop in Clinical Periodontics – 1989) [2] Can it be assumed from a single examination that

14
 Classifying periodontal diseases

an adolescent or young adult with massive attach- givalis (22), Prevotella intermedia (69), Eikenella
ment loss has this disease? How can a clinician dis- corrodens (69), Streptococcus intermedius (84), or mi-
tinguish between ‘Generalized Juvenile Periodontitis’ crobial complexes consisting of various combi-
and ‘Rapidly Progressive Periodontitis’? Since there nations of P. gingivalis, S. intermedius, Treponema
are no definitive answers to these, and other similar denticola, Campylobacter rectus, Bacteroides for-
questions, the classification lost some of its clinical sythus, Peptostreptococcus micros and Fusobacterium
utility. nucleatum (51, 52). In addition, perturbations in
The concept that the rate of progression might be host responses, such as altered neutrophil chemo-
a useful criterion upon which to base a disease cat- taxis (83, 105), over-production of certain proin-
egory may in itself be flawed. The rate at which peri- flammatory cytokines (57, 69, 126), and elevated
odontitis progresses is highly variable and depends serum (51, 84) or gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) anti-
on such factors as body (21) against putative periodontal pathogens,
have been reported. The striking feature of the
O innate and acquired host susceptibility (30, 36, microbiological and host response results in refrac-
60). tory patients is their extensive variability and hetero-
O composition and quantity of the subgingival flora geneity. The work that has been done on Refractory
(27). Periodontitis does not challenge its existence, since
O the nature of genetically determined host–bac- there are some people who are clearly unresponsive
terial interactions (54, 66). to conventional treatment. However, studies of such
patients appear to indicate that Refractory Peri-
Almost any form of periodontitis can progress rapid- odontitis is not a single entity. As mentioned in the
ly or slowly depending on the set of circumstances proceedings of the 1989 World Workshop in Clinical
governing the nature of the host–bacterial interac- Periodontics, it is a heterogeneous grouping (2). In
tions during a given time period. Indeed, longitudi- addition, except in the most unusual of circum-
nal studies of patients with untreated Chronic stances it is very difficult to distinguish between re-
(‘Adult’) Periodontitis, in which disease progression fractory and recurrent periodontal disease (124).
is usually considered to be ‘slow’, can undergo bursts The final major problem with the 1989 classifi-
of progression during which extensive amounts of cation was its arbitrary and heavy reliance on age of
attachment loss can occur at localized sites within a the affected patients or age of onset of the disease. In-
short period of time (e.g. 2–3 mm within 3 months) deed, the Adult Periodontitis and Early Onset Peri-
(41, 49, 50, 61, 132). Did such sites suddenly develop odontitis categories were firmly based on age as a cri-
a different form of periodontal disease (i.e. shift from terion for placing patients into one category or an-
Chronic Periodontitis to Rapidly Progressive Peri- other. In this classification the dividing line between
odontitis)? This explanation is possible, but unlikely. adult and early onset categories was arbitrarily set at
The existence of a group of periodontal diseases 35 years of age (2). Certainly clinical features of a pa-
that would eventually be termed ‘Refractory Peri- tient’s periodontitis were important (e.g. the incisor/
odontitis’ came from a series of studies of private first molar involvement in ‘Localized Juvenile Peri-
practice patients who unexpectedly did not respond odontitis’), but decisions regarding the final diagnosis
to treatment (9, 59, 79, 87, 88, 98). The reasons for depended greatly on the age of the patient. One of the
the unresponsiveness to conventional therapy are advantages of using the age criterion is that it formally
not clear, but it is probably due to the emergence of acknowledges the existence of different types of peri-
resistant or super-infecting microorganisms, tissue odontitis in children and adolescents.
invasion by periodontal pathogens, and innate or ac- There is no question that the patient’s age is an
quired alterations or defects in host responses (65, important variable in evaluating the nature of an in-
85). dividual’s periodontal disease. For example, a 15-
Whatever the reasons, it has been demonstrated year-old patient with multiple sites with 3 mm of
that some patients with periodontitis ‘refractory’ to clinical attachment loss (CAL) has a different kind of
treatment harbor enteric rods, staphylococci and periodontal problem compared to a 90-year-old with
Candida at unresponsive sites (25, 56, 74, 119–121). the same amount of damage. However, when age is
Whereas other patients who responded poorly to used as the single most important determinant in
treatment, or who developed recurrent disease, con- classifying various forms of periodontitis, difficult
tinued to harbor in the subgingival flora at nonre- questions arise. Is it necessary to establish the age of
sponding sites elevated levels of Porphyromonas gin- onset of periodontitis before a patient can be cor-

15
Armitage

rectly classified or diagnosed? As a child or ado- odontitis. ‘Rapidly Progressive Periodontitis’ was a
lescent with periodontitis gets older, should the peri- heterogeneous category.
odontal diagnosis change (i.e. with time does Prepu- O there was extensive overlap in the clinical charac-
bertal Periodontitis become Juvenile Periodontitis teristics of the different categories of periodontitis.
which then becomes Rapidly Progressive Peri- O ‘Refractory Periodontitis’ was a heterogeneous
odontitis)? Some might argue that the answer to this category.
question should be ‘yes’ since it has been reported O ‘Prepubertal Periodontitis’ was a heterogeneous
that two or three of these forms of periodontitis have category.
been observed within highly susceptible families
(134, 142). Authors of one of these reports suggested What emerged was a classification that was even
that all three forms of Early Onset Periodontitis more firmly based on the Infection/Host Response
might have a common underlying mechanism (134). paradigm, but without some of the inherent prob-
It can, however, be argued that it is incorrect or lems of the 1989 classification (Fig. 3) (4). In reality,
simply wrong to use age as the main criterion for the changes could be characterized as a ‘course cor-
assignment of different names to the periodontitis rection’ or ‘fine-tuning’ of the 1989 classification
affecting various family members. Indeed, it is just since no massive alterations were made. A badly
as likely that the subcategories of Early Onset Peri- needed gingivitis or gingival disease category was
odontitis are the same disease rather than three sep- added. In addition, the heterogeneous disease cate-
arate forms of periodontitis. gories of prepubertal, refractory and rapidly pro-
Of all the reasons for questioning the use of age as gressive periodontitis were eliminated as distinct or
a criterion for classification, the most compelling are stand-alone entities. The ‘refractory’ designation re-
data from epidemiological studies indicating that mains in the new classification, but not as a single
children and adolescents develop attachment loss entity. Conceptually, all forms of periodontitis can be
from a type of periodontitis that clinically resembles unresponsive to treatment. Furthermore, the
that seen in adults (110). In other words, certain troublesome criteria of age and rate of progression
children and adolescents develop what is, for all in- were removed as a basis for classifying different
tents and purposes, identical to ‘Adult Periodontitis’, forms of periodontitis. The reasons for these changes
except that those affected are not adults. Some were not arbitrary, but were based on available data
authors have avoided this obvious nomenclature and the current understanding of the nature of peri-
problem by using the term ‘Childhood Periodontitis’ odontal infections (4, 35, 67, 71, 72).
(29). As might have been predicted, some clinicians and
investigators think that the new classification is non-
sense and will not, ‘... help much in the discussion
as to how the various forms of periodontitis should
1999 Classification of Periodontal be classified.’ (141). Remarkably, one critic has fer-
Diseases and Conditions vently recommended that the classification of peri-
odontitis be based on, ‘... a combination of a number
Problems, inconsistencies, and deficiencies associ- of clinical symptoms of the disease and the age of
ated with the 1989 classification led many clinicians the patient.’ (141). Indeed, it was suggested that the
and investigators to call for a revision of the cur- classification be based on extent and severity of the
rently used system. This resulted in a 1999 interna- disease, age, and rate of progression (141). Clearly
tional workshop on the classification of periodontal this would be a return to the domination of the ‘Clin-
diseases (4). One of the goals of this workshop was ical Characteristics’ paradigm that reigned from ap-
to correct the problems associated with the 1989 sys- proximately 1870 to 1920 when we knew little about
tem. There were six major problems with the 1989 the nature of periodontal diseases!
classification that needed to be addressed: A quick comparison of the 1989 and the 1999
classifications could lead to the misconception that
O it did not include a gingivitis or gingival disease all that was done was to arbitrarily change the
category. names of ‘Adult Periodontitis’ to ‘Chronic Peri-
O the periodontitis categories had nonvalidated age- odontitis’ and ‘Juvenile Periodontitis’ to ‘Aggressive
dependent criteria. Periodontitis.’ These changes were specifically made
O there was extensive crossover in rates of pro- to eliminate the nonvalidated age-dependent desig-
gression of the different categories of peri- nations. They were, however, not the most important

16
 Classifying periodontal diseases

Fig. 3. Classification of Periodontal Diseases and Conditions Based on the ‘‘Infection/Host Response Paradigm’’ (1999
International Workshop for a Classification of Periodontal Diseases and Conditions) [3]

17
Armitage

changes. Elimination of the categories of ‘Refractory attempt at subclassifying this or other forms of peri-
Periodontitis’ and ‘Rapidly Progressive Periodontitis’ odontitis, is that these infections are polymicrobial
was badly needed because of their extraordinary and polygenic. In addition, the clinical expression of
heterogeneity. In addition, elimination of the ‘Prepu- these diseases is altered by important environmental
bertal Periodontitis’ category was important since and host-modifying conditions (e.g. oral hygiene,
existing data do not support the notion that it is a smoking, emotional stress, diabetes). It is conceiv-
single entity. Some cases of severe periodontitis in able that with much more information and the ap-
children are attributable to the presence of a sys- plication of sophisticated multivariate analyses, it
temic disease, whereas many cases occur without may eventually be possible to subclassify the
any modifying systemic conditions (13, 14, 130, 135). multiple forms of ‘Chronic Periodontitis’ into dis-
Indeed, the data suggest that ‘chronic’ periodontitis crete microorganism/host genetic polymorphism
has its beginnings in childhood. groups such as:
To some clinicians, selection of the term ‘chronic’
as a replacement for ‘adult’ to describe the most O group A – Set .1 of microorganisms π Set .1 of
common form of periodontitis may seem inappro- genetic polymorphisms.
priate since it might be interpreted to mean that the O group B – Set .2 of microorganisms π Set .2 of
disease is permanent or incurable. These clinicians genetic polymorphisms.
might argue that since most patients with chronic O group C – Set .3 of microorganisms π Set .3 of
periodontitis respond favorably to therapy, they genetic polymorphisms.
should be considered as ‘cured.’ However, there are O group D – Set .4 of microorganisms π Set .4 of
no data to support the contention that most patients genetic polymorphisms.
who have been treated for periodontitis are ‘cured’
in the sense that the disease and its underlying In addition, it will be necessary to superimpose on
causes are gone. Although treatment may result in these ‘microorganism/host genetic polymorphism’
dramatic clinical improvements and reduce the sub- groupings the effect of environmental or host-modi-
gingival levels of periodontal pathogens to nonde- fying factors. It will be necessary to address head on
tectable levels (based on cultural data), there are no the nagging question, ‘When are host-modifying fac-
convincing data to show that the pathogens have tors (e.g. smoking, diabetes) so important that they
been permanently eliminated. Indeed, periodontal should be a principal part of the disease classifi-
infections tend to recur if a rigorous post-treatment cation?’ That is, in an evidence-based classification
maintenance program is not followed. should there be a ‘smoking-induced periodontitis’ or
a ‘diabetic periodontitis?’ When do modifying factors
become an essential classification characteristic of
the disease? The same problems also occur when
Future challenges in the one addresses the so-called ‘Localized Aggressive
classification of periodontal Periodontitis’ and ‘Generalized Aggressive’ cate-
diseases gories. It is likely that these diseases also have
multiple forms and are at least as complex as the
As we enter the postgenomic era with our increased ‘Chronic Periodontitis’ group.
understanding of the bacteria associated with peri- There is a tendency for clinicians and investigators
odontal infections and the genetic factors control- to ‘jump the gun’ and to use etiology- or patho-
ling host responses to these infections, it would genesis-based classifications or terms prematurely.
seem that a more mechanistic or etiological classifi- For example, it is exceedingly difficult to prove in a
cation could be devised. Why could modern classi- given subset of patients that the presence of a known
fications of periodontal diseases not be based on the periodontal pathogen in the subgingival flora is ac-
microbiological features of these infections, or on tually the cause of the periodontal disease in that
the genetic factors that seem to control the clinical group of individuals. Indeed, it has been amply
expression of these diseases? The answer is simple. shown that known periodontal pathogens, such as
We do not know enough about periodontal infec- Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, can be found
tions to take this next step. in the supra- and subgingival flora of patients with-
It is very likely that ‘Chronic Periodontitis’ is a out periodontitis (3). Nevertheless, some authors
constellation of diseases (i.e. it is not a single entity). have referred to the existence of an A. actinomyce-
One of the main problems associated with any temcomitans-associated periodontitis (143). Al-

18
 Classifying periodontal diseases

though tempting, terms based on assumed etiolog-

ical or pathogenic associations should be discour-
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