title: Periodontal infections: understanding the complexity--consensus of the Seventh European Workshop on Periodontology.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Periodontal diseases are the pathological manifestation of the host response against the bacterial challenge from the dental biofilm at the tooth/gingival interface. The remit of this working group was to update the existing knowledge on the infectious nature of periodontal diseases.
  
  
  METHODS
  The literature was systematically searched and critically reviewed. Four manuscripts were produced in specific topics identified as key areas to understand the importance of the microorganisms in the etio-pathogenesis of periodontal diseases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results and conclusions of the review process are presented in the following papers, together with the group consensus statements aiming to answer the following questions: (1) Has the use of molecular methods for the characterization of the human oral microbiome changed our understanding of the role of bacteria in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease process? (2) Are the periodontal microbial complexes associated with specific cell and tissue responses? (3) How is the development of dental biofilms influenced by the host? (4) What can we learn about biofilm/host interactions from the study of inflammatory bowel disease? This consensus report provides answers to these questions with the most updated information on periodontal microbiology.
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Odontologia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. marianosanz@odon.ucm.es
authors.forename: Mariano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sanz
authors.forename: Arie Jan
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: van Winkelhoff
mesh_terms: D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D018441:Biofilms; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000382:microbiology; D005881:Gingiva / Q000382:microbiology; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D054892:Metagenome / Q000502:physiology; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000382:microbiology; D014070:Tooth / Q000382:microbiology