What should a dental assistant do if they notice a tear in their gloves?

When a dental assistant notices a tear in their gloves, changing them immediately is crucial for maintaining a sterile environment and ensuring patient safety. Gloves serve as a barrier to protect both the dental assistant and the patient from potential cross-contamination and infection. A tear compromises this barrier, making it ineffective and exposing both parties to potentially harmful pathogens.

Continuing to work with compromised gloves can lead to the transmission of infectious agents, while using tape to repair the tear fails to restore the necessary protective integrity of the gloves. Notifying the dentist at the end of the day delays immediate action that could prevent contamination during patient procedures. Hence, promptly changing the gloves is the best practice to ensure compliance with infection control protocols.