Dental plaque is a necessary but not sufficient etiologic factor of the destructive periodontal disease. The manifestation of periodontal destruction is influenced by a wide variety of risk factors and determinants. In the introduction the terminology of different etiologic and risk factors are discussed in general. Than the risk factors and determinants of destructive periodontitis are overviewed. In the first part the acquired and behavioral factors and determinates are discussed. Among the local factors the role of the individual oral hygiene, the specificity of subgingival dental plaque the plaque retentive factors and occlusal traumatism are discussed. The hormonal, the acquired immunological factors, osteoporosis and the age are discussed as systemic risk factors and determinants. Among the behavioral factors smoking, psychological stress and socio-economic factors are covered. The second part is going to cover the genetic predisposing factors.