Fabrication of Gutta-percha points derived from the Latex of Manilkara zapota for Obturation treatment in root canal therapy

Abstract The Gutta-percha (GP) points are filling material used in the obturation treatments in endodontic root canal therapy. The GP points are manufactured from the latex of a Malaysian tree called a Percha Tree (Palaquium gutta, family: Sapotaceae). However, in this study, an attempt has been made to fabricate an alternative GP points from the latex of a tree Manilkara zapota from the same plant family Sapotaceae. The latex was obtained by wounding the tree trunk using a sterile blade and collected in a sterile container. Then the latex was vigorously mixed with a 3.5:6.5 ratio of latex and zinc oxide respectively. The MZ-GP points were made by hand-rolling method and characterized for their radiopacity, and tensile strength. Simultaneously, the latex was tested for its antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus, and Methicillin-resistance Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The hand-rolled MZ-GP points have a similar structure to a commercial GP point, are white and also have good filling capability during obturation with natural radioopaque properties. The average tensile stress at the break for the control was 1.59 MPa, whereas, the same was 0.09 MPa for the MZ-GP points. However, the displacement was 3 mm for the control and 0.6 mm for the MZ-GP points. The latex of M. zapota has limited antibacterial activity showing very little zone of inhibitions (< 8 mm) on all the bacterial strains tested. The latex of M. zapota is an alternative to the latex of P. gutta for the manufacturing of GP points for Obturation treatments. However, the formulation may be modified to improve the properties of the MZ-GP points.