A Dentist’s Guide on How to Choose the Best Disposable Gloves
A single nail bed can harbor as many germs as your entire hand. That’s why hospitals require medical staff to scrub and inspect them thoroughly. And that’s why they wear frequently changed disposable gloves, too.
But what gloves are right for your dental practice?
Read on for a quick-look guide to the disposable gloves suitable for dentists.
Latex Gloves
Latex dental gloves are used everywhere, from the medical industry to food service to cleaning. Latex is actually a natural material collected from older rubber trees. Latex protects against bacteria and viruses, but its weak barrier won’t save a wearer from harsh chemicals.
Some people are allergic to latex, resulting in skin rashes or worse for anyone who comes into
contact with them. For this reason, dentist clinics often opt for other common disposable glove
materials.
Nitrile Gloves
Nitrile gloves are made from medical-grade synthetic rubber. These types of disposable gloves are
tear and chemical-resistant and protect the user from a wide range of germs. And best of all, they
don’;t cause allergies for the wearer or their patient. Nitrile gloves have a long shelf life, so they can be bought in bulk from US dental product suppliers like Primodentalproducts.com to save money.
Chloroprene Gloves
Chloroprene gloves offer dentists the best of both worlds.
If you love the pliability that latex gloves provide but can’t take a risk with their allergy-inducing
properties, chloroprene gloves might be the best disposable gloves for your practice. The material’s
cellular structure is similar to natural rubber, so they feel comfortable to wear. Like nitrile gloves, they also don’t puncture easily, and they’re chemical and disease resistant.
Surgical Gloves
If you’re a surgically trained dentist, you might prefer to wear disposable surgical gloves instead of the standard options listed above. These disposable gloves for dentists are made of a material that
withstands the surgical sterilization process.
They’re typically made of higher grades of latex, nitrile, or vinyl so that the wearer has a greater range of motion, dexterity, and feeling. Because of this, they’re typically more expensive than exam gloves and not cost-effective for daily clinical use.
Specialty Disposables
There are a few other types of specialty disposable gloves you might want to consider for your dental practice.
These include:
- Powdered or powder-free gloves
- Chlorinated or non-chlorinated gloves
- Gloves with additives like oatmeal or aloe vera
- Chemotherapy gloves
Most of these have specific uses, so it’s hard to say which are the best dental gloves. For example,
chemo gloves offer protection from harsh chemotherapy drugs, while gloves with oatmeal help
prevent dry skin.
Choosing the Right Disposable Gloves
Because disposable gloves come in such a wide array of materials and, in some cases, are designed for specific applications, it’s hard to say which you’ll need for your clinic. When in doubt, err on the side of caution on allergy prevention, cost-effectiveness, and ease of availability. It also pays to keep some specialty gloves in stock, so you have them on hand when you need them.
If you’re keen to stay on top of the latest medical industry trends, take a look back through our article archive.
