PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Al-Swuailem, Abdullah S.
TI  - Prevalence of manufacturing defects in latex examination gloves used in selected dental practices in central Saudi Arabia
DP  - 2014 Jul 01
TA  - Saudi Medical Journal
PG  - 729--733
VI  - 35
IP  - 7
4099  - http://smj.org.sa/content/35/7/729.short
4100  - http://smj.org.sa/content/35/7/729.full
SO  - Saudi Med J2014 Jul 01; 35
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the defect rates in latex examination gloves used in selected dental practices in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 796 latex examination gloves were collected from 5 governmental hospitals and 5 private dental practices between April 2012 and May 2012. The gloves were assessed for presence of defects visually (VT) and using water inflation test (WIT). One and 2 sample t-tests were used to assess significant differences in defect rates among each latex brand, and between governmental hospitals and private dental practices.RESULTS: Defects in latex gloves were more likely to be identified using WIT compared with VT (20.2% versus 4.3%, p=0.000). Using WIT, examined latex gloves had a defect rate approximately 8 times the acceptable quality level of 2.5% (20.2%, p=0.000). Using WIT, gloves used in private dental practices had significantly higher defect rates compared with governmental dental clinics (25.6% versus 14.6%, p=0.006).CONCLUSION: Most latex examination gloves used in the sampled governmental dental clinics and private dental practices in Riyadh had significantly higher preexisting defect rates than acceptable standard levels.