Purpose. To evaluate the histopathological condition of the pulp in teeth with different levels of chronic periodontitis in humans. Methods. Twenty-five single-root nondecayed teeth were divided into three groups as follows: group 1, clinical attachment level (CAL) 3 to 4？mm and alveolar bone loss (BL) from 4 to 6？mm without reaching the tooth apex; group 2, C A L ≥ 5 ？mm and B L > 6 ？mm without reaching the tooth apex; group 3, C A L ≥ 5 ？mm and B L > 6 ？mm up to the tooth apex. Histological analyses were accomplished after laboratorial processing. Results. The mean of CAL was 3 . 2 ± 0 . 7 ？mm in group 1, 7 . 6 ± 2 . 0 ？mm in group 2, and 1 2 . 1 ± 2 . 8 ？mm in group 3, while for BL it was 4 . 8 ± 0 . 9 ？mm, 7 . 6 ± 2 . 2 ？mm, and 1 1 . 9 ± 2 . 1 ？mm, respectively. Histopathological data in the pulpal chambers were similar among the three groups showing normal aspects, and, the radicular pulps showed variable levels of reactive dentin, fibrosis, dystrophic mineralizations, atrophy, and mononuclear inflammatory infiltrate. Conclusions. Gradual progression of the chronic periodontitis led to changes in the histopathological aspects of the radicular pulp with progressive involvement. 1. Introduction There are communications between the pulpal tissues and the periodontal structures [1, 2]. Some reports showed the effects of pulpal alterations on the periodontium [3–5]; however, few studies evaluated the influence of periodontitis upon pulpal tissues [3]. The microbiota of both lesions seems to be similar, but the developments of models are needed for better histological and clinical investigation [6–8]. The influence of the periodontitis upon pulpal tissues happens not only when there is a tooth apex involvement [9, 10], but also in cases that the periodontitis does not reach the tooth apex [11, 12]. Radicular dentin of teeth with periodontitis can be invaded by putative periodontal pathogens, such as Prevotella intermedia, Phorphyromonas gingivalis, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Bacteroides forsythus, Peptostreptococcus micros, and Streotococcus intermedius [13]. Previous studies [14, 15] have also demonstrated that the bacterial invasion can occur in the root cementum and radicular dentin of those teeth with periodontal involvement, and bacteria were detected on the pulpal wall and in dental pulp of those teeth, which shows the influence of the periodontitis upon pulpal tissues. There is a scarceness of histological studies that have assessed the influence of different degrees of periodontitis upon the pulp tissue. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate
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