The causative agents in periodontal disease are periopathogenic bacteria; however, viruses have been implicated. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of different HHVs in the saliva of chronic periodontitis patients and to compare it to two groups of healthy controls. Three groups were included: chronic periodontitis patients (CP), periodontally healthy patients (NP) and oral health providers with a healthy periodontium (NPOHP). For each subject, 1 ml of unstimulated whole saliva was collected and mixed with 2 ml lysis buffer. HHVs assays were performed using real-time PCR. Fifteen percent of the subjects in the CP group tested positive for CMV compared to none in the NP and NPOHP groups (p = 0.04). Recurrent herpes was more frequent in females (51.7 %) than in males (33.3 %), and this was statistically significant (p = 0.038). The higher prevalence of CMV in the unstimulated saliva of CP patients suggests that CMV may play a role in the pathogenesis of chronic periodontitis.