Gutta-percha softening: "Hemo-De" as a xylene substitute

gThe putative hazardous nature of chloroform and xylene implies that safer substitutes should be considered. Standard cylindrical gutta-percha samples were immersed in Hemo-De, a xylene substitute, for 60 s at 37 degrees C. W eight loss of a sample, after drying, was used as a measure of its solubili ty, Master and accessory cone gutta-percha of three brands were compared, T he highest solubility of all kinds of gutta-percha was in chloroform, which served as a positive control. The average solubility of all samples in xyl ene and Hemo-De was 61% and 52% of that in chloroform, respectively. DMS gu tta-percha was more soluble than of Hygienic and DeTrey, Master cone gutta- percha of all brands was more soluble than that of their accessory cones. T hese results indicate that (a) large differences exist in the solubility of gutta-percha and (b) Hemo-De dissolved gutta-percha in a range similar to that of xylene and may be considered as a potential substitute for this org anic solvent.