The central role of the general practitioner in the treatment of periodontal disease.

This paper is based on experience of periodontal practice in Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina respectively. Factors of relevance to the multidisciplinary approach to periodontal therapy are the level of development of public health, the teaching curricula in periodontology in dental schools, the organization of public dental health services (demand only or systematic oral care services) including the target groups and the dentist to population ratios. Quantification of periodontal treatments, the Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs (CPITN) and the recent analysis of the American Academy of Periodontology on periodontics in the twenty-first century are also of great relevance. Periodontology is a higher level discipline of public as well as dental health. The specialist periodontist carries out all the treatments in periodontology undertaken by the general dental practitioner and more specialized treatments not usually performed by the generalist.