DENTSPLY Tulsa Dental Specialties Introduces Breakthrough GuttaCore Obturator

First Crosslinked Gutta-Percha Core Obturator Delivers Warm Fill Throughout Root Canal System

Tulsa, Okla., March 4, 2011: DENTSPLY Tulsa Dental Specialties today announced GuttaCore™, the first obturator with a crosslinked gutta-percha core.

The unique cross linking technology used to develop GuttaCore transforms gutta-percha making it the ideal core material for centrally condensing the warm flowable gutta-percha with a hydraulic force that sends it flowing throughout the entire canal system with one insertion.
Before the development of GuttaCore, warm gutta-percha was deemed unsuitable for use as an obturator core because it melted when heated. Cross linking the gutta-percha connects the polymer chains and transforms the obturation material, keeping it from melting. This established scientific process subtly strengthens the gutta-percha while retaining its shape and its familiar benefits.

GuttaCore simplifies post space creation and retreatment as it removes with unprecedented ease. The obturator handle removes by bending to either side of the canal wall without affecting its seal. Supported by extensive research, GuttaCore allows practitioners to achieve dense, 3-D fills in the most challenging root canal systems.

“Since Tulsa Dental Specialties pioneered the obturator in 1988, we have never stopped innovating ways to improve the tool’s clinical success and efficiency,” said Bobby Morrow, Senior Category Manager for DENTSPLY Tulsa Dental Specialties. “GuttaCore gives practitioners everything they trust about gutta-percha but adds subtle strength and flexibility that were never before possible.”

Many obturation techniques continue using lateral or vertical compaction to move gutta-percha in one or two unequal directions – no match for the complexity of the root canal system. Three-dimensional views of micro CT scans show that GuttaCore’s central compaction sends the gutta-percha flowing equally in three dimensions, reaching the entire canal system.

GuttaCore’s tapered design matches the shapes created by today’s files, it’s safe and biocompatible, and the obturator is heated and placed in seconds, making it the efficient choice for predictable 3D fills.