Credit: Panos N. Papapanou, DDS, PhD/Columbia University College of Dental Medicine
By looking at the expression of thousands of genes in gum tissue, researchers can now classify most cases of periodontitis into one of two clusters. More severe cases of the disease are represented under the red bar, less severe cases under the blue bar. The findings may allow for earlier diagnosis and more personalized treatment of severe gum disease, before irreversible bone loss has occurred.