Generalized aggressive periodontitis (GAP) comprises a group of periodontal diseases characterized by the rapid destruction of periodontal tissues which affect young individuals who generally present no systemic disorders. Polymorphisms in the interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) genes have been associated with an increased severity of chronic periodontitis. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the association between IL-1A (-889) and TNFA (-308) gene polymorphisms and GAP. One hundred nonsmoking subjects were selected, including 30 with GAP and 70 without periodontal disease. Gene polymorphisms were analyzed by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique. For IL-1 (-889), the frequency of genotype 1/1 was 54.3% in the control group and 56.7% in the study group. The frequency of genotype 1/2 was 37.1% in the control group and 40% in the study group. Genotype 2/2 was detected at a frequency of 8.6% and 3.3% in the control and study groups, respectively. For TNFA, genotype 1/1 was present in 68.6% of control subjects and in 80.0% of patients with GAP, while the frequency of genotype 1/2 was 27.1% in the control group and 20% in the study group. Genotype 2/2 was present in 4.3% of control subjects and was not detected in the study group. The frequencies of allele 1 and allele 2 of the IL-1A (-889) gene were 72.9% and 27.1%, respectively, in the control group and 76.7% and 23.3% in the GAP group. For the TNFA (-308) gene, the frequency of allele 1 was 82.15% in the control group and 90% in the study group, whereas the frequency of allele 2 was 17.85% in the control group and 10% in the study group. Statistical analysis revealed no significant difference in allele distribution for either gene between the two groups. No association was observed between GAP and IL-1A (-889) and TNFA (-308) gene polymorphisms in Brazilian patients.