ABSTRACT
The subject of this work was to study a hardening procedure for gutta-percha points, in order to make ease their introduction in very curved root canals. Gutta-percha points of different brands and dimensions were submitted to treatment with alcohol 96 degrees for 1 to 3 days. After this treatment the weight necessary to make a bending of 35 degrees on the tip of the gutta-percha was evaluated. The obtained results were submitted to statistic analysis and the following conclusions can be observed: a. The treatment with alcohol make hard the gutta-percha points in a significant level. b. There was not significant differences between the results obtained with more than one day of alcohol treatment. c. The treatment with alcohol do not make hard all the brands of gutta-percha points.
