Periodontal Medicine

There exists a two-way relationship in which periodontal disease in an individual may be a powerful influence on an individual's systemic health or disease as well as the more customarily understood role that systemic disease may have in influencing an individual's periodontal health or disease. Therefore, oral health is an important component of general health, and individuals with periodontitis may be at risk for other diseases as well. The impact of oral infection on systemic health thus defines the new branch of periodontology termed "periodontal medicine".