Dental knowledge: periodontitis or periodontosis?

Periodontitis, often also – though not correctly – called periodontosis, is an inflammatory disease of the tooth-supporting structures. Periodontosis, by contrast, is not inflammatory. Periodontitis can occur at any age, at one tooth or several at once, progressing at different speeds and in different degrees of severity.

Periodontitis is caused by bacteria that collect between tooth and gum. If these bacterial deposits (plaque) are not removed by thorough cleaning with a toothbrush and dental floss, they form a hard, knobbly deposit: calculus.

If further factors are added – stress, smoking or another illness, for example – an acute inflammatory reaction can follow. The gum is reddened, swollen and prone to bleeding.

The problem: because of the inflammation, oral hygiene hurts and may be neglected further, so that more bacteria accumulate and migrate deeper along the tooth. Once they are in the pockets, conventional cleaning methods can no longer remove them and the inflammation advances. As the disease progresses, deep periodontal pockets form – a breeding ground for more bacteria. The immune system tries to eliminate them. Various reactions follow, among them the production of substances (enzymes) meant to destroy the harmful bacteria. But these enzymes do not only remove harmful bacteria, they also destroy the tooth-supporting structures. At an advanced stage the jawbone can break down and the tooth ultimately be lost. Without intact supporting structures the tooth has no hold in its socket (alveolus), begins to loosen and may be lost.