[Dendritic cells in chronic adult periodontal disease].

At the gingiva there are two cellular populations with mediation capacity in the immunoregulation, whose mechanisms seen to be implicated in the pathogenesis of the periodontal disease. One of these populations is formed by the macrophages and the other one by the Langerhans cells belonging to the epithelia. In this paper wr are demonstrating that both populations keep an inverse proportional relation in the two sides of gingival epithelium. In the oral side, the Langerhans cells are predomiating, while in the periodontal pocket they are in small number, in comparison with the macrophages, which are highly abundant and forming a subepithelial band.