Dermatosurgery cannot readily be therefore be to impart the knowledge assigned to anyone branch of medical that gives the dermatologist this free- science, and as with any borderline dom of choice. This involves the teach- case, this assignation is a matter of con- ing not only of the basic principles of troversy. Since the end of the last cen- dermatosurgery but also of the ability tury, the place of the subject in the field to discriminate according to the most of dermatology has been firmly estab- varied criteria. In this field, technical lished. This is hardly surprising, since knowledge, motivation, and enthusi- a number of specialists in dermatology asm are not enough; talent is also re- spent the first part of their professional quired. C. Moncorps was engaged in work life as surgeons: for example, E. Lang of Vienna, famous for his treatment of on a monograph on dermatosurgery lupus by plastic surgery; and K. Linser (unfortunately nowhere near comple- of Tiibingen, one of the originators of tion) at the time of his death. As a for- varicose-vein stripping. H. T. Schreus mer pupil and long-standing colleague and C. Moncorps were distinguished of his, it is particularly gratifying to me to see colleagues past and present con- members of a later generation of sur- gery-oriented dermatologists; the der- tinuing a tradition in their work.

Periodontal disease is a general term encompassing several non-tumoral diseases of the periodontium. Some periodontopathies are considered the periodontal manifestation of systemic diseases, e.g. so-called desquamative gingivitis, primary herpetic gingivostomatitis, hormonally mediated changes like "pregnancy gingivitis," and some others related to metabolic disturbances, e.g. diabetes mellitus. Drug-associated gingival inflammation, e.g. hydantoin-induced hyperplasia, and rapid onset infections possibly associated to psychosomatic distress like acute necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis (ANUG), are also included. However, the most common periodontal diseases are infectious in origine, initiated by proinflammatory substances derived from the microbial dental plaque accumulating at or near the neck portion of the teeth or crevicular sulcus of the gingiva. There are several classifications of periodontal disease which consider clinical, bacterial, host, and environmental factors. The classification used in this work 'is generally in accordance to that elaborated by Page and Schroeder (42) and the committee of Deutsche Gesellschaft fiir Parodontologie (13). Periodontal disorders induced by bacteria and named gingivitis and periodontitis, have been considered a group of local infections (39). More than 300 species of bacteria are currently recognized in the oral cavity which may vary interindividually or from site to site on different teeth of the same person. However, only a few species are proven to participate predominantly in the infectious process and have been constantly found in association to certain forms of periodontal disease (30, 39).