Description

In 1892, Sir William Osler noted, "If it were not for the great variability among individuals medicine might as well be a science and not an art". This statement now a century old still embodies the influence of genetic variability on treatment outcomes both in Medicine and in Periodontics. Although, periodontitis does not follow Mendelian inheritance patterns, evidence is mounting of important hereditary influences. In fact, in developed countries, the strongest risk predictor of many common illness including diabetes, heart diseases and cancer is family history. Knowledge of hereditary influence of disease is not a new finding and it seems likely that oral cavity is excluded from genetic factors. An important problem related to research in the hereditary of periodontitis is that, whatever the cause of the disease, the symptoms are the same: deepening of periodontal pocket, loss of attachment and bone loss. The more susceptibility factors an individual has inherited, the greater the genetic predisposition and higher the chance for early development of periodontitis.