Effect of gloves on tactile discrimination using an endodontic model

This study used an endodontic model to investigate the effect of glove wearing on tactile sensitivity. Dental students, all of whom had worn gloves throughout their clinical training, used a file to detect resistance at the apical end of an endodontic teaching aid. Wearing gloves produced a statistically significant reduction in tactile sensitivity. As large intra- and inter-subject variations were observed both with and without gloves, the sensitivity change brought about by the wearing of the latter seems unlikely to be of significance in clinical endodontics.