{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T02:59:51Z","timestamp":1781665191313,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781568000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Dentistry Journal"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The 2018 classification of periodontal and peri-implant diseases introduced a multidimensional diagnostic framework integrating staging, grading, and disease extent, representing a major advance over earlier severity-based systems. By incorporating structural destruction, treatment complexity, spatial distribution, and estimated risk of progression, the classification aimed to support more individualized and biologically informed diagnosis. However, increasing clinical application has revealed interpretive challenges, particularly in cases where different components of the system appear discordant. This perspective examines these challenges through a conceptual and clinical lens, focusing on the distinction between focal severity and overall disease burden in staging, the biological meaning of disease distribution, the interpretation of tooth loss as a historical rather than current indicator of disease status, and the need to differentiate between observed progression and risk-based modifiers in grading. Rather than reflecting deficiencies of the classification itself, these discordances are understood as a consequence of applying categorical systems to a biologically heterogeneous and temporally dynamic disease. A biologically grounded interpretive hierarchy is proposed, prioritizing observed tissue behavior and realized tissue destruction over probabilistic risk indicators while integrating structural parameters, historical outcomes, and susceptibility modifiers within their appropriate conceptual roles. This approach enhances diagnostic coherence and supports a more phenotype-oriented interpretation of periodontal disease.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/dj14060374","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T01:58:38Z","timestamp":1781661518000},"page":"374","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Discordance in the 2018 Periodontal Classification: Conceptual Challenges and a Biologically Grounded Framework for Interpretation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5485-2768","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nada Tawfig","family":"Hashim","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Periodontics, RAK College of Dental Sciences, RAK Medical & Health Sciences University, Ras-AL Khaimah 12973, United Arab Emirates"},{"name":"Department of Oral Rehabilitation, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Khartoum, Khartoum 11115, Sudan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bakri Gobara","family":"Gismalla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Oral Rehabilitation, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Khartoum, Khartoum 11115, Sudan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bhavna Jha","family":"Kukreja","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Gulf Medical University, Ajman P.O. Box 4184, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-1523-1683","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ayman","family":"Ahmed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Periodontology and Implantology, College of Dentistry, The National Ribat University, Khartoum 11115, Sudan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nallan C. S. K.","family":"Chaitanya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, RAK College of Dental Sciences, RAK Medical & Health Sciences University, Ras-AL Khaimah 12973, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Salma Musa Adam","family":"Abduljalil","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Periodontology, Faculty of Dentistry, National University, Khartoum 11115, Sudan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hiba Ahmed","family":"Elsidig","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Periodontology and Implantology, Nile University, Khartoum 11115, Sudan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Muhammed Mustahsen","family":"Rahman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Periodontics, RAK College of Dental Sciences, RAK Medical & Health Sciences University, Ras-AL Khaimah 12973, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S1","DOI":"10.1111\/jcpe.12935","article-title":"A new classification scheme for periodontal and peri-implant diseases and conditions\u2014Introduction and key changes from the 1999 classification","volume":"45","author":"Caton","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. 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