Dental Gloves

The Right Gloves Can Improve Performance

In terms of fit and comfort, it’s vital to consider how your dental gloves fit your wrist and palm areas of your hand. Female dentist gloves can vary widely from her male counterparts. Gloves that are too taut across the palm or bind the wrist can impact performance. Using gloves that compress hand and wrist tissues can, over time, contribute to the development of a range of hand and wrist disorders. There isn’t a single, ideal, universal glove that works for everyone’s hand proportions. Consequently, My Glove Depot offers an exhaustive list of quality dental gloves. 

Latex, Nitrile, Chloroprene and Vinyl Dental Gloves 

A good, inexpensive powder free dentist latex glove can protect your hands on quick dental procedures. For jobs that take longer, a more durable nitrile or chloroprene glove is ideal for dental hygienist gloves. Most of the new nitrile formulations produce an exceptionally thin and soft glove, provide superb barrier protection, and all are powder free. Nitrile dental gloves may cost a bit more, but will outlast latex on longer procedures, saving you money in the long run. Some feel that chloroprene gloves offer an even more precise and elastic fit than nitrile.

Accurate Fit With Latex

Because of its elastic properties, natural latex can give dental clinicians the most accurate fit due to its elastic properties. However, many are selecting synthetic alternatives as a personal choice or in order to satisfy the requirements of a latex-free environment. 

The First Alternative to Latex

Vinyl gloves were the first alternative to latex, are made from PVC and are inexpensive. But due to the limitations of the material, fit is often less than ideal, subjecting wearers to potential hand fatigue if worn for extended periods of time. Vinyl can also begin to break down during use, resulting in microscopic tears and cracks in the gloves. 

Ambidextrous and Hand-Specific

Disposable gloves that are made for dental procedures come in both ambidextrous and hand-specific. Ambidextrous gloves can be worn on either hand, and are built with the thumb aligned with the other fingers, opposed to the position of the thumb when the hand is a neutral position. Hand-specific gloves place the thumb in its natural position, lowering unneeded stress on the thumb. Commonly known as right and left gloves, hand-specific gloves come in a variety of sizes for dentist latex gloves.

Textured Surface

Smooth gloves tend to be the norm, but they can also cause serious concern on the part of dental clinicians, who overwhelmingly prefer using textured gloves. Gloves that supply some surface traction can be very helpful for in the wet environment of the dental office, increasing pinch grip and lessening the risk of tiring out your hands.

Glove texture varies substantially by manufacturer, and there are no industry-wide standards. Some gloves offer texture on the whole gripping area, while some are limited to the fingertips. There are subtle differences in sensitivity and feel, so it’s best to stick with a dental glove texture that works for you, as it might not be easy to adapt to another brand.

Color and Fragrance for Dental Gloves

A couple of additional considerations when choosing the appropriate dental glove are fragrance and color. Some patients - and for that matter clinicians - find the aroma of natural latex less than pleasing, and prefer to use a glove made with fragrance such as a light peppermint.

The right glove can also be pleasing to the eye, and most dental gloves come in a spectrum of colors. Along with the traditional white, cream, and blue, dental gloves are offered in black, green, lavender, pink, purple, orange, white, brown, grey, silver, teal and clear. Some gloves are now available with aloe vera and vitamin E, both of which are thought to provide additional comfort.