- gutta-percha
- The coagulated, purified, dried, milky juice of trees of the genera Palaguium and Payena (family Sapotaceae); used as a filling material in dentistry, and in the manufacture of splints and electrical insulators; a solution is used as a substitute for collodion, as a protective, and to seal incised wounds. Cf.:chicle, gutta. [Malay gatah, gum, + percha, the name of a tree]
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gut·ta-per·cha .gət-ə-'pər-chə n a tough plastic substance from the latex of several Malaysian trees (genera Payena and Palaquium) of the sapodilla family (Sapotaceae) that resembles rubber but contains more resin and is used in dentistry in temporary fillings* * *
n.the juice of an ever-green Malaysian tree, which is hard at room temperature but becomes soft and elastic when heated in hot water. On cooling, gutta-percha will retain any deformity imparted to it when hot; thus it was used in dentistry as an impression material and as a temporary filling material. It has been superseded for these purposes by better materials, but is still used in the form of gutta-percha points as the principal core of root filling.* * *
gut·ta-per·cha (gut″ə-purґchə) [Malay getah perca sap of the percha tree] [USP] the coagulated, dried, and purified latex of trees of the genera Palaquium and Payena, particularly Palaquium gutta; used in orthopedics for fracture splints, in dental surgery for temporary sealing of cavities, and in dentistry in the form of cones for filling the root canal and in the form of sticks for sealing cavities over treatment.
Medical dictionary. 2011.