Influence of a barrier technique on electric pulp testing

The routine use of gloves as part of a barrier technique is recommended by the American Dental Association and the Centers for Disease Control. The correct use of the electric pulp tester requires the dentist to contact the patient's skin or mucosa to complete the circuit. A method to use the Analytic Technology pulp tester while the dentist is gloved is presented. In this technique the patient grasps the end of the probe tip after it is positioned on the tooth by the dentist. The validity of this method was verified by testing 78 teeth in 13 patients. There was no significant difference when this technique was compared with the conventional ungloved procedure.