Periodontitis: Concept & Criteria for Staging and Grading

Some of the more major changes in the new classification scheme occur in the classification of periodontitis. The three main categories for periodontitis now are:

1. Necrotizing Periodontal Diseases

2. Periodontitis Associated with Systemic Diseases

3. Periodontitis

It is noted that the category of Aggressive Periodontitis no longer exists. The workshop 2 authors determined that there is currently insufficient evidence to consider aggressive periodontitis and chronic periodontitis as two pathophysiologically distinct diseases.¹⁷ Thus, both chronic and aggressive periodontitis from the 1999 classification have now been included under the umbrella of “Periodontitis.” Sufficient evidence however was found to consider necrotizing periodontitis as a separate entity.¹⁷ Additionally, there was sufficient evidence for periodontitis observed in the presence of systemic diseases that severely impair the host response, to be considered separately under the umbrella of Periodontal Manifestations of Systemic diseases.