[Defect rate of disposable gloves after longer treatment duration]

Following 472 dental treatments the disposable gloves worn by dental assistant staff were examined for perforations. 73% of polyvinyl chloride glove pairs had at least one defect. Therefore these gloves hardly meet the requirements of the regulations for the prevention of accidents in relation to the tightness of gloves to liquids. 24% of the latex glove pairs lacked tightness. These values correlate with those found for dentist's gloves. For both types of materials the incidence of defects increases significantly with treatment duration. Since visual checks only detected one third of the perforations, longer term use of disposable gloves for several treatments can not be recommended.