Resumo

PALERMO, Vinícius Motta et al. Evaluation of integrity of procedure gloves used by dentistry students. RGO, Rev. gaúch. odontol. (Online) [online]. 2012, vol.60, n.4, pp. 431-436. ISSN 1981-8637.

Objective To evaluate the integrity of procedure gloves, before and after clinical activities carried out by dentistry students. Methods 480 gloves were analyzed, belonging to 4 different commercial brands, divided into groups of 60 gloves each: Group 1 - Sanro® (Fábrica de Artefatos de Látex São Roque S.A, São Roque, Brazil); Group 2 - Supermax® (Supermax Glove Manufacturing Sdn. Bhd. Selangor, Malaysia); Group 3 - Satari® (Siam Sempermd Corp., Ltd. 110 Kanjanavanit Rd., Hatyai, Thailand) and Group 4 - Embramac® (Hartalega Sdn. Bhd. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), comprising 240 unused (Control Group) and 240 used gloves. The gloves had been used by Integrated Clinic students for a period of up to 2 hours. The integrity, with regard to the strength of the glove material, was evaluated by visual inspection and a water insufflation test, having considered the following clinical conditions: presence of tearing, presence of small perforations characterized by trickling and presence of large perforations characterized by water discharges. Results Comparing the loss of integrity before and after use, one can observe that the values correspond to 5.4% and 27.1% respectively (p<0.0001), presenting significant differences between brands. Conclusion It may be concluded that the loss of integrity of gloves before and after clinical activities, exposes the dentistry students to the risk of contamination and this occurrence can vary depending on the brand of gloves used.

Palavras-chave : Gloves protective.; Infection.; Students dental..