Using a dental dam is highly recommended for safe oral sex. Yet not as many people know about them even though they’re meant to be essential. Condoms get a lot of coverage, everybody knows where you can buy them.

But when it comes to dental dams, some people have never heard about them. Or if they have heard about them, they don’t know where to get them or how to use them. Oral sex is one of the lower risk sexual acts when it comes to the chances of you catching an STI.

However unprotected oral sex still carries a risk element to it. Regardless of whether you give or receive oral sex, blowjobs and pussy eating can both be dodgy. Especially if either of you have genital warts or any cuts in your skin which expose you to blood borne STIs.

Some of the most commonly transmitted STIs during unprotected oral sex are:

Chlamydia

Gonnorhea

Syphilis

HIV

Genital warts

Using barrier methods of contraception like condoms, femidoms and dental dams are essential to safe sex. You shouldn’t be reluctant to use them when they’re so important to stay healthy.

How do dental dams work?

Dental dams are a thin sheet of latex in a square shape. Using lube, you stick and hold the dental dam in place over a vagina or anus. With this in place correctly as a barrier, it has the same effect as a condom in preventing you coming into direct contact with genitals and bodily fluids.

Of course because dental dams don’t fully cover the entire area, there is still a risk. Which is why having good personal hygiene is always a sensible practice. Going to a sexual health clinic between partners or regularly even with an established partner, will also help you maintain your health.

As you give oral, you should move the dental dam across the area to maintain the barrier. Depending on where you’re licking, you might want to have different sized dams too. Some people will use condoms cut in half as DIY dental dams but you need to make sure they don’t split during usage otherwise they can’t really help.

Being screened for any STIs is a quick and painless procedure which gives you peace of mind that all is OK and catches anything early on if you have got an STI. Using dental dams when you give oral sex to women is also a smart choice as it gives both of you additional protection.

Do people use them?

The obvious question you’re probably asking yourself is whether people actually use dental dams? It’s a practice maintained by many service providers seeing clients as it’s essential for professional escorts. However in the civilian bedroom, not as many couples do use dental dams despite the advice being that you really ought to.

Not using dental dams when you give oral to your girlfriend is an individual choice. If you both know that you’re healthy and have had a recent clear sexual health screening, you’re probably safe to do so without using a dental dam. But when it comes to meeting new partners, using barrier methods of contraception is advisable.

Using a dental dam for the first time might be a bit fiddly if you’re unsure how to do it. Official advice from CDC gives you a simple guide on how to use them and how to make one from a condom.

Buying dental dams

If you’re open to trying dental dams in the bedroom, you might wonder where you can buy them. Thankfully for you, it’s easy to purchase dental dams online while some in person pharmacies and health clinics will also provide them free of charge.