STAT3 and periodontitis: A periodontitis model was established in mice with conditional deletion of Stat3 in Th17 cells (Stat3fl/fl; Il17a-CreERT2, cKO) and wild type (Stat3fl/fl, WT) mice via injection of Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide (P. gingivalis LPS) into gingival sulcus.