---
title: "What Is Gutta-percha? Dental Glossary | Town Center Dental"
description: "Gutta-percha is a rubber-like material made from tree sap that dentists use to fill and seal the inside of a tooth after a root canal."
url: https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/glossary/gutta-percha
publisher: Town Center Dental
phone: +1-636-273-5866
quote: https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/request-appointment
---

Materials

# Gutta-percha

Gutta-percha is a rubber-like material made from tree sap that dentists use to fill and seal the inside of a tooth after a root canal.

During a root canal, a dentist cleans out the inside of the tooth and shapes the canals. The empty space must then be filled so germs cannot return. Gutta-percha is the usual filling. It comes from the sap of a tropical tree and is made into thin cones. The dentist places the cones in the canal with a sealer, often warming the material so it fills the space fully. A review in the NIH library notes that its structure is close to that of natural rubber. After the filling, the tooth needs a [crown](https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/glossary/dental-crown) or other final restoration. Read about [root canal therapy](https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/glossary/root-canal-therapy) and [tooth pulp](https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/glossary/tooth-pulp), or see our [root canal](https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/services/root-canal) page.

[Town Center Dental can helpRoot Canal Treatment](https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/services/root-canal)

## Related terms

-   [Root canal therapy](https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/glossary/root-canal-therapy)
-   [Tooth pulp](https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/glossary/tooth-pulp)
-   [Tooth root](https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/glossary/tooth-root)
-   [Dental crown](https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/glossary/dental-crown)
-   [Temporary filling](https://towncenterdental.multisites.ai/glossary/temporary-filling)

## Sources

1.  [NIH PubMed Central: Gutta-percha in endodontics - A comprehensive review of material science](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6632621/)

## Ready when you are

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