New English File Intermediate Supplementary Resources
Gingivitis and periodontitis are the two main periodontal diseases and may be present
concurrently. Gingivitis is a form of periodontal disease in which gingival tissues are
inflamed but their destruction is mild and reversible while periodontitis is a chronic
inflammatory response to the subgingival bacteria with irreversible changes (Armitage,
1999). Periodontium destruction is characterized by loss of connective tissue attachment and
bone around the teeth in conjunction with the formation of periodontal pockets due to
apical migration of the junctional epithelium (Champagne et al., 2003)....
