Previously, Ding et al. (2015) reported in their meta‐analysis that MMP3 ‐1171 5A/6A polymorphism (rs35068180, not studied here) could be associated with decreased risk of periodontitis in an Asian population (Ding et al., 2015); however, Itagaki et al. (2004) pointed that MMP‐3 gene promoter polymorphisms did not influence the susceptibility to periodontitis in Japanese patients (Itagaki et al., 2004). The gene discussed is MMP3; the disease is periodontitis.