Additional Study Information: The aim of this study is to develop and validate a minimally invasive technique to collect gum(gingival) tissue around the teeth that will be used to help us understand why certain people developsevere gum disease. A secondary aim is to evaluate the use of salivary molecules as diagnosticmarkers of periodontitis. You may qualify for this study if you have been diagnosed with gum disease that requires gum surgery, because you need a tooth to be pulled out (surgical extraction), or because you need a procedure called "crown lengthening", that requires that we remove a portion of gums around your teeth so that your dentist can make new crowns (false teeth). We expect that the information obtained by this study will help us understand why some individuals develop severe gum disease.