Periodontitis in the child and adolescent

Early onset periodontitis (EOP) which affects individuals thirty-five and y ounger is characterized by a rapid rate of bone loss and disease progressio n with defects in host response and a specific etiological microbial flora. Within this classification, there are three subsets of the disease: prepub ertal periodontitis, juvenile periodontitis, and rapidly progressive period ontitis. The characteristics of each disease are described along with illus trative cases that will help clinicians diagnose EOP in their patients. Cur rently prescribed treatment modalities and guidelines from the literature a re also discussed in this paper. EOP may represent a complex set of disease s that are Likely to be reclassified as further advances in microbiological and genetic research are made. Clinicians should be aware of such changes in order to diagnose, treat, and refer their patients for comprehensive car e.