title: Effect of gloves on tactile discrimination using an endodontic model.
abstract: This study used an endodontic model to investigate the effect of glove wearing on tactile sensitivity. Dental students, all of whom had worn gloves throughout their clinical training, used a file to detect resistance at the apical end of an endodontic teaching aid. Wearing gloves produced a statistically significant reduction in tactile sensitivity. As large intra- and inter-subject variations were observed both with and without gloves, the sensitivity change brought about by the wearing of the latter seems unlikely to be of significance in clinical endodontics.
authors.affiliation: School of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: N P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Chandler
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Bloxham
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005932:Gloves, Surgical; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D012390:Root Canal Therapy; D014110:Touch