Aggressive periodontitis: the historic quest for understanding.

Aggressive periodontitis has had many names as well as theories behind its etiology. The current paper looks to investigate this history and show the evolution of both nomenclature and understanding. Going beyond academic debates, emerging trends and conventions are also examined and placed into a clinical perspective. The aim of the paper is to recognize the origins of the elusive disease in order to form a concrete understanding of this multifactorial phenomenon.