Current and future approaches for diagnosis of periodontal diseases.

Our understanding of the etiology and pathogenesis of periodontal diseases has grown in the recent past, and new findings have led to advances in patient management. This article summarizes important new knowledge and offers a description of traditional and novel diagnostic approaches. These include clinical and radiographic assessments of the periodontal tissues, evaluation of the microbial challenge and the host response, and certain elements of the host genotype that may confer susceptibility to destructive periodontal diseases.