The word obturation originated in the 17th century from a Latin word "obturat" meaning Stopped up, from the verb obturare. Dictionary meaning of the word obturation is to block up or obstruct. In the 1800' s and before ,material ranging from tin foil, gold foil, cotton pellets with various medicaments ,wood , spunk, plaster of paris, oxychloride of zinc, oxyphosphate of zinc, zinc oxide , paraffin, copper points, and various other concoctions were used to fill the root canals