INFECTION CONTROL SOLUTIONS
SAFE IN YOUR HANDS CHOOSING THE RIGHT GLOVE IN YOUR DENTAL PRACTICE
In your dental practice, using quality medical gloves as personal protective equipment (PPE) plays an important part of a broader infection control and prevention strategy and acts as a barrier to ensure the safety of dental staff and patients alike. In Australia, gloves must adhere to strict regulatory requirements that will dictate manufacturing standards and regulations to safeguard quality and reliably if used as recommended, reduce or prevent the transmission of disease or micro-organisms (such as bacteria or viruses) and protect from potential chemical exposure. As well as understanding that the glove manufacturer is adhering to pre-established criteria, the wearer should also be aware of added features to provide extra protection. Choosing the right glove with a stricter Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) ensures the highest quality and safety standards and freedom from holes. Why is AQL important?
Considering Chemical Permeation
AQL is an internationally recognised industry standard statistical sampling process for evaluating quality and measuring the percentage likelihood of pinhole defects in a manufactured batch of gloves. Various international standards, as shown in Table 1 (scan QR code on the following page to view Table 1) determine the AQL that manufacturers must comply to. Manufacturers can also set their own standards as long as they are stricter than the international standards dictated. The lower and stricter the AQL, the lower the chance of finding a defect in the batch of gloves, and the higher the quality of the product.
Dental professionals should also carefully choose their gloves in part based on the chemicals they may be exposed to in their daily practice. Many chemicals can permeate through medical gloves and irritate skin or cause even more serious health problems. In addition, some studies suggest that when chemicals compromise the barrier integrity of gloves, there can be increased microbial penetration.2 Increased microbial penetration can lead to higher risk of infection and cross contamination.3
In the case of Ansell, they have set their AQL Standards at a stricter level to ensure a better quality and safer product: • Surgical gloves are 0.65 (natural rubber latex and nonlatex), exceeding world standards of 1.0 - 1.5. • Examination gloves are 1.5, meeting or exceeding world standards of 1.5-2.5
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Different types of gloves protect against different types of chemicals. A medical glove’s ability to resist chemicals is also limited in time. After a while, the chemical will penetrate the medical glove material, often without being noticed.5
