An assessment of the incidence of punctures in latex and non-latex dental examination gloves in routine clinical practice

Murray, C.A., Burke, F.J. and McHugh, S. (2001) An assessment of the incidence of punctures in latex and non-latex dental examination gloves in routine clinical practice. British Dental Journal, 190(7), pp. 377-380. (doi: 10.1038/sj.bdj.4800978)

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the puncture resistance of a recently introduced non-latex, nitrile dental glove in comparison with a latex glove worn during routine clinical dental procedures. SETTING: Dentists in general dental practice working within the UK during 1999. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 2,020 gloves worn by five general dental practitioners were examined for punctures following standard clinical use by a water inflation method. Procedures undertaken during glove usage and length of time worn were recorded. RESULTS: Following clinical use, 1.9% of the latex gloves and 5.3% of the nitrile gloves had punctures, a statistically significant difference (P less than 0.0001). The puncture resistance of the nitrile gloves was superior to the puncture resistance of previously tested worn non-latex (vinyl) gloves. There was no evidence of a statistically significant difference between operators for the percentage or incidence of punctured gloves (P = 0.787) after correcting for glove type. No statistically significant difference was noted between incidence of puncture in the control, unused gloves (n = 200 for each type) and the gloves examined following clinical use (P = 0.907 for nitrile, P = 0.613 for latex). CONCLUSION: No increase in the number of punctures was noted following clinical use for either glove type. This could be considered to indicate good puncture resistance of the gloves tested in clinical use.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: McHugh, Ms Siobhan and Burke, Prof Frederick
• Authors: Murray, C.A., Burke, F.J., and McHugh, S.
• Subjects: R Medicine > RK Dentistry; R Medicine > RD Surgery
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing > Dental School
• Journal Name: British Dental Journal
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group for the British Dental Association
• ISSN: 0007-0610
• Copyright Holders: © Copyright British Dental Journal
• First Published: First published in the British Dental Journal 190(7):377-380
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher