Periodontal disease is one of the oldest conditions affecting teeth. Understanding, diagnosing and treating it took centuries. One form of treatment, surgical reduction of the gingival pocket, gingivectomy, evolved over the past one hundred years. Currently surgery is being replaced by more conservative, personalized and regenerative methods for the treatment of periodontal disease.  Kulcsszavak: surgery, laser, types, caries, inflammation in gingiva, historical review