Abstract Background/aims: Human herpesvirus‐associated diseases exhibit elevated morbidity and mortality in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of herpesviruses in HIV‐periodontitis. Method: Gingival biopsies from periodontitis lesions of 21 HIV‐patients and 14 non HIV‐patients were studied. Nested‐polymerase chain reaction methods were employed to detect human cytomegalovirus, Epstein‐Barr virus type 1 and 2 (EBV‐1, EBV‐2), herpes simplex virus, human herpes virus (HHV)‐6, HHV‐7 and HHV‐8. Results: Gingival biopsies from HIV‐periodontitis lesions showed on average 4.0 herpesvirus species and gingival biopsies from HIV periodontitis lesions of non‐HIV patients revealed an average of 1.9 herpesvirus species ( p <0.001). Occurrence of 4 to 6 different herpesviruses was more common in HIV‐ than in non HIV‐gingival biopsies (71% vs. 7%) ( p <0.001). EVB‐2 was detected in 12 (57%) biopsies from HIV‐periodontitis but was absent in non HIV‐periodontitis biopsies ( p =0.002). HHV‐6 also occurred in significantly higher frequency in HIV‐periodontitis (71%) than in non HIV‐periodontitis (21%) ( p =0.01). HHV‐8 was detected only in biopsies from HIV‐periodontitis lesions.. Conclusion: HIV‐periodontitis seems to be associated with elevated occurrence of EBV‐2, HHV‐6 and herpesvirus co‐infections compared to periodontitis in non‐HIV‐patients. The periodontopathic significance of herpesviruses in HIV‐periodontitis constitutes a research topic of considerable interest.