Dear cedar,

Indeed, dental dams are hard to find. But you can check places like your local health department's HIV clinic, which may either distribute dams or know of a source for them. If not, you can order dams from companies like these:

Condomania

Mail order line: 800.9.CONDOM (926.6366) [9 AM - 5 PM (PT), M - F]

Good Vibrations

Mail order line: 800.BUY.VIBE (289.8423)

Mail order fax: 415.974.8989

Mail order e-mail

Unlubed or dry condoms can easily be made into good substitutes for dams. With scissors, carefully snip off the elastic band part and tip of the condom and then cut down its length. The resulting rectangular piece of latex (or polyurethane if someone is latex sensitive) is stretchable. If you're in a pinch, you can use nonmicrowaveable plastic wrap.

Dam-finding difficulties likely stem from well-deserved attention given to condoms' effectiveness at preventing both pregnancy and infection transmission. Also, condoms were designed with sex in mind, while dams were created to help dentists focus on a particular part of the mouth during an oral procedure. Condoms are less expensive than dams, and that also means a lot in the marketplace.

Alice

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