Background/purpose: The relationship between endodontic and periodontal lesions remains a controversy. Their diagnosis is often difficult and requires an interdisciplinary approach to rule out the cause and provide appropriate treatment. Periodontitis as an etiology of pulpal necrosis and irreversible pulpitis has been a hypothetical concept. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the non-carious teeth extracted due to periodontitis both clinically and histologically to understand the possible association between periodontitis and its effect on pulp vitality.Materials and methods: The study consisted of 60 teeth, of which 20 were extracted due to orthodontic requirements (control group) and 40 were extracted due to periodontitis (test group), which was further subclassified based on the presence or absence of gingival recession. Clinically, the teeth were categorized as non-vital after testing them with the electronic pulp tester (EPT). Later, these teeth were sectioned, and histopathological analysis was done to detect the presence of lateral or accessory canals.Results: The results showed that there were mild to moderate deteriorative changes in the pulp in the periodontitis group without a gingival recession and moderate to severe changes in the pulp in the periodontitis group with a gingival recession. Conclusion: There exists a possible deteriorative effect on pulp vitality as a consequence of periodontitis, even when the vitality of the pulp remains unaffected by dental caries.

The RANK, RANKL and OPG interaction plays a major role in bone resorption and remodelling. The history dates back to mid 1990s when the RANK/ RANKL interaction was found to mediate osteoblastic stromal cells to stimulate osteoclastic bone resorption. This interaction was found to induce several cytokines including the TNF superfamily, thereby activating the pathways of bone remodelling. The Osteoprotegerin (OPG) prevents the binding of RANKL to RANK, thereby preventing the excessive bone resorption. When there is an imbalance in the levels of RANK/RANKL/OPG, the metabolic activity of the bone cells gets altered and thus there is loss of balance between bone formation and resorption. Thus, studying the inter – relationship between RANK, RANKL and OPG becomes critical for assessing the osteoblastic and osteoclastic activity.

Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience of varying degrees often caused by biological, social and psychological factors. Local anesthetics are amphipathic molecules that when administered in sufficient concentration, inhibit pain transmission. As the administration of local anesthetics is inevitable in routine dental treatments, in-depth knowledge about local anesthesia, its effects on the body and how the body reacts to the drug is of paramount importance. This review article highlights the key aspects of local anesthesia including its role in periodontal therapy. Key words: Dental pain, Local Anesthesia, LA in Periodontics, LA techniques, Lidocaine, Epinephrine.