Pulp status of teeth in patients with chronic advanced periodontitis.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the dental-pulp status in patients with chronic advanced periodontitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty teeth were extracted from patients with advanced periodontitis. Before extraction, electric pulp tests were conducted to explore the real state of the pulp. According to the height of the residual periodontal membrane, all teeth were divided into two groups: group 1< (3 mm) and group 2 (3-6 mm). Two groups of teeth were sliced and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. The dental-pulp status of histopathologic changes was analyzed. RESULTS: The frequency of pulp necrosis in group 1 was significantly higher than that in group 2 (P<0.05). The frequency of a complete odontoblastic layer, vacuolar degeneration of the odontoblastic layer, pulp edema, and reticular atrophy in group 1 were significantly lower than in group 2 (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in other histopathologic changes. Histopathologic examination compared to the traditional electric pulp testing, revealed that 24.48% of dental pulps showed complete pulp necrosis and 5.75% exhibited normal pulp tissue by histopathology. However, only 9.52% of teeth exhibited no response, and 33.33% displayed responses similar to those of neighboring teeth, suggesting that the electric pulp test cannot completely detect dental-pulp status. CONCLUSIONS: Teeth in patients with chronic advanced periodontitis, exhibited worse pulp conditions with decreased height of the residual periodontal membrane. The results of electric pulp testing were not completely representative of histopathologic results in advanced periodontitis.