Advances in Experimental Research About Periodontitis: Lessons from the Past, Ideas for the Future.

Periodontitis is an inflammation-driven disease triggered by microbes that affects the tissues surrounding the teeth and eventually destroys the alveolar bone, leading to tooth loss. This is probably the most precise and consensual definition of periodontitis that can be given to date. How to deal with a disease whose aetiology, pathophysiology, and therapeutic strategies are still subject to debate? In the book "Periodontitis: Advances in Experimental Research", 20 chapters aim at clarifying chosen questions left unresolved from the twentieth century, with methodologies from the twenty-first century. Here we expose the concerns authors, reviewers, and editors have raised during the writing of this book. The aim of this collaborative work is to present to a large audience the current state of experimental periodontal research, and to help decision makers think out of the box while defining future research.