ABSTRACT
Periodontitis is a bacterially induced chronic inflammatory disease that destroys the supporting tissues of teeth. Clinical observations and experimental evidence indicates that there is a genetic influence of risk factors for periodontitis. A specific pattern of IL-1 polymorphisms [known as the composite IL-1 genotype] has been found to influence the severity of chronic periodontitis. A review of the literature was conducted to evaluate the association between the IL-1 gene polymorphisms and the severity of periodontal disease in different populations. It was demonstrated that the IL-1 composite polymorphism is associated to the severity of periodontitis and periimplantitis in some study groups. This supports the recent findings that the composite genotype does not show the same association in patients of different ethnic groups