Periodontal Therapy of the Future—Many Challenges and Opportunities

Roughly 50% or more of the word population suffer from a form of periodontitis and about 750 million people suffer from a severe form (1). This number is higher than, for example, diabetes, which affects around 450 million adult patients (2). According to an estimate of WHO in 2018, the total number of people living within 5 years of cancer diagnosis, the so-called 5-year prevalence, is estimated at 43.8 million (3). In view of these figures, periodontitis is indeed an important topic. Especially if one considers the clinical connections with diabetes or other systemic diseases (4, 5). The prevention and therapy of this inflammatory disease, which is mostly caused by bacteria, must be intensified and intensively fought from a health policy perspective.