Periodontal health care is needed in developing as in developed countries. It is understood that many of the developing countries do not have the financial capabilities to provide such care. The model for developing periodontal care in communities that has been recommended by the Joint Working group of the FDI and the WHO Commission on Oral Health Research and Epidemiology offers a most promising means of providing developing nations with the building blocks that are needed to construct a rational periodontal health programme with the help and assistance of dental practitioners.