Blog
Tips and field notes on periodontal practice and charting at the chairside.
Periodontitis doesn't progress the same way for everyone (Löe et al., 1986)
A 15-year study of Sri Lankan tea workers with zero access to dental care reveals three radically different progression speeds in the face of identical plaque exposure.
The 2018 periodontal classification: what actually changes chairside
Stage, grade, and the end of the chronic/aggressive split: a practical guide to what the 2018 classification really changes in day-to-day diagnosis and charting.
Why structured maintenance care changes everything (Axelsson & Lindhe, 1981)
A 6-year study showed that a rigorous recall protocol — not the initial treatment alone — is what determines long-term outcomes, in sharp contrast with the Hirschfeld study from the same era.
Carranza's "Clinical Periodontology"
The world's most widely used periodontology textbook, published continuously since 1953.
Jan Lindhe, or periodontology's entry into the age of evidence
A portrait of the Swedish periodontist whose textbook changed how the discipline is taught and practiced worldwide.
Rateitschak's "Color Atlas of Periodontology"
The reference clinical atlas, which bet on imagery rather than text to teach periodontology.
Pierre Fauchard, the father of modern dentistry
How an 18th-century French dental surgeon was the first to systematically describe periodontal disease and its treatment.
John Mankey Riggs, the world's first periodontist
Periodontal disease was named after him for decades in the United States — and he already championed prevention over routine surgery.
Jan Lindhe's "Clinical Periodontology and Implant Dentistry"
The book that shifted periodontology from a practice of opinion to a discipline grounded in scientific evidence.
The landmark study behind the plaque-gingivitis link (Löe, 1965)
How an experiment on 12 dental students first established the cause-and-effect relationship between plaque and gingivitis.
Socransky's microbial complexes (1998)
The study that changed how we understand periodontal microbiology, from single pathogen to bacterial ecosystem.
Tooth loss at 22 years under periodontal maintenance (Hirschfeld, 1978)
What actually happens to a treated dentition over the very long term: the reference study on the topic.
Paper vs. digital periodontal charting: which to choose?
An honest comparison of both approaches, and when each one still makes sense.