Background
Hand hygiene is the single most important factor in the prevention and control of infection and is fundamental in protecting both the patient and the healthcare worker in many settings.
Hands can become contaminated by direct contact with patients, indirectly by handling equipment or through contact with the general environment. The risks to the patient are greatly reduced if staff appropriately decontaminate their hands.
In Dentistry, hands are the parts of the body which are most exposed to the site of operation, therefore the chances of transmission of diseases is at its maximum due to the exposure of underlying structures during surgery. For this reason, the importance of effective hand hygiene in any dental practice is the primary necessity and the first step in achieving infection control.
The use of gloves in all types of dentistry has been a major benefit to both patient and dentist, wearing gloves has many obvious advantages, foremost of which is the protection of patient and dentist from possible infection.
Gloves are not always a completely impermeable barrier, however they greatly reduce the transfer of micro-organisms to and from the wearers hands. Gloves are an important protective measure in ensuring that cross-infection is kept to a minimum.
The same gloves should not be worn between clean and dirty procedures, hands should always be washed before donning and after removing gloves. With the appropriate use of gloves and the adherence to hand hygiene policies, then the principle of gloves dispensed “Cuff 1st” from a dispenser reduces greatly the risk of cross-contamination.
“Following a study we observed that if personnel pick the gloves up only by the CUFF END and don the glove prior to patient contact, the organism transfer rate is eliminated or very drastically reduced. While we do not advocate using gloves as a substitute for hand washing, CUFF END removal introduces a secondary control mechanism to reduce infections when personnel bypass other proper infection control procedures. When proper hand/forearm washing is combined with cuff end removal of gloves this is a very effective control measure that literally can prevent organism transfer and subsequent infections.”
Matthew P Maley, MS Shriners Burn Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio
Hand hygiene is the single most important factor in the prevention and control of infection and is fundamental in protecting both the patient and the healthcare worker in many settings.
Hands can become contaminated by direct contact with patients, indirectly by handling equipment or through contact with the general environment. The risks to the patient are greatly reduced if staff appropriately decontaminate their hands.
In Dentistry, hands are the parts of the body which are most exposed to the site of operation, therefore the chances of transmission of diseases is at its maximum due to the exposure of underlying structures during surgery. For this reason, the importance of effective hand hygiene in any dental practice is the primary necessity and the first step in achieving infection control.
The use of gloves in all types of dentistry has been a major benefit to both patient and dentist, wearing gloves has many obvious advantages, foremost of which is the protection of patient and dentist from possible infection.
Gloves are not always a completely impermeable barrier, however they greatly reduce the transfer of micro-organisms to and from the wearers hands. Gloves are an important protective measure in ensuring that cross-infection is kept to a minimum.
The same gloves should not be worn between clean and dirty procedures, hands should always be washed before donning and after removing gloves. With the appropriate use of gloves and the adherence to hand hygiene policies, then the principle of gloves dispensed “Cuff 1st” from a dispenser reduces greatly the risk of cross-contamination.
“Following a study we observed that if personnel pick the gloves up only by the CUFF END and don the glove prior to patient contact, the organism transfer rate is eliminated or very drastically reduced. While we do not advocate using gloves as a substitute for hand washing, CUFF END removal introduces a secondary control mechanism to reduce infections when personnel bypass other proper infection control procedures. When proper hand/forearm washing is combined with cuff end removal of gloves this is a very effective control measure that literally can prevent organism transfer and subsequent infections.”
Matthew P Maley, MS Shriners Burn Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio
