Sir, I have recently audited the use of the 2017 periodontal classification in new patient clinics at Bristol Dental Hospital (BDH). I was incredibly pleased to see that the team at BDH have adapted well with 98% of the previous 75 new periodontal patients being diagnosed with the 2017 classification as had 85% of referrals from general dental practitioner colleagues.

However, I noticed that only two thirds of referring dentists completed the yes or no tick box asking whether the patient had a family history of periodontal disease, with this being left unanswered 33% of the time. We know the importance of genetics on the susceptibility of an individual to periodontitis,1 and I believe that the profession should make a concerted effort to ask patients about their periodontal family history as a part of any new patient examination. This information is important when assessing each patient's risk factors and susceptibility to periodontal disease and can be used to mitigate the progression of periodontal disease in these individuals by explaining the risks and providing the appropriate oral hygiene instructions at an earlier age. A patient being aware of associated family history and its outcome may help them take on board the necessity for improving their oral hygiene standard. Additionally, this could help with future research purposes, with one of the suggestions for further investigation from the 2017 world workshop being the identification of characteristics, including genetic factors, which may make an individual more susceptible to periodontal disease.2

Therefore, I make the suggestion that any of my GDP colleagues reading this, ask and document their patient's family periodontal history, so that we can move to pre-empt periodontal disease and provide our patients with the adequate information to maintain their periodontal health.