Periodontal disease is the destruction of all portions of periodontium. However, only periodontitis, based on whether attachment loss has occurred, can be detected in archaeological material. Therefore, several methods have been used to assess the frequency of periodontitis in past populations. The main scope of this study is to determine whether diagnoses of periodontitis through various methods are consistent with diagnoses obtained using the radiographic method. The samples (35 individuals, 576 teeth) were selected from Radom Cemetery's collection (in use between 1790 and 1811). For each individual, a periodontal status assessment was made using the following parameters: (i) measuring the distance between the cement–enamel junction (CEJ) and the crest of the alveolar bone (AC); (ii) the degree of root exposure; (iii) presence of the inter‐dental septum; (iv) dental calculus; (v) scoring system on the texture of the alveolar bone (Kerr's method) and (vi) radiography. In the studies, a correlation was found between the radiographic images and Kerr's method (r = 0.92) and root furcation (r = 0.96). Increasing degree of change on the alveolar bone is connected with increases in the CEJ–AC distance. A relationship between the frequency of the prevalence of dental calculus and changes on the alveolar bone was found. It means that the radiographic method, which is not always possible to use in archaeological collections, can be replaced by the presented macroscopic methods. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.