Host Resistance and Periodontal Disease

¹ Department of Periodontics, School of Dentistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California

Review of current knowledge suggests that the condition of the host may in some manner (especially by lowering local resistance), accelerate the initiation of, or accentuate present, inflammatory periodontal disease. This conclusion is generally accepted, but essential details are lacking. Specific animal and human studies are needed to define the interrelations. Present investigatory technics are suitable to obtain such results, and the initiation and execution of such experiments should be encouraged. The need for data in this area takes on additional urgency since a recent news release by the American Dental Association stated that low income groups in the United States had widespread multiple nutritional deficiencies similar to those encountered in developing countries, and that nearly half of all persons with teeth were victims of periodontal disease.⁶⁷ It thus is imperative that definitive investigations relating host status to periodontal disease are given significant priority. "It is not thy duty to complete the work, but neither art thou free to desist from it." (Ethics of the Fathers).