Models of Periodontal Pathogenesis

Chronic adult periodontitis is a multifactorial disease. Early histopathological observations described linear model of pathogenesis in periodontal disease. After that the bacterial activation of immuno inflammatory mechanisms, environmental and genetic factors modified the clinical phenotype of periodontal disease which led to the formulation of non-linear conceptual models. However, these models did not capture the dynamic nature of the biochemical processes. With emerging genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic data and systems biology tools for interpreting data, a multilevel hierarchial model and biological systems model has been proposed to describe the basic elements of a new model of pathogenesis. It is hoped that improved conceptual models of pathogenesis will assist in focusing new research and speed the translation of new data into practical applications.