People use Dental Dam to protect against STD. Dental dam acts as a barrier during Oral sex. They prevent direct contact between the vagina and the mouth, thereby protecting against various STD which spreads from direct skin-to-skin or coming in contact with the fluids such as Herpes, Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea and in rare cases against Syphilis, Hepatitis B and HPV.

Dental dams, conventionally used by the dentists are designed for endodontics, prosthodontics (crowns, bridges)  purposes to prevent saliva interfering with the dental work and to prevent instruments and materials from being inhaled, swallowed which could damage the mouth.

Oral sex, being comparatively a safer form of sexual activity is widely practiced across the world. There are certain STDs which can be transmitted while having Oral Sex. The problem, with the “activity called sex” is that it is highly impulsive and so can happen even without protection. So, one cannot expect the protections to be kept handy. The Dental Dams, for example, are latex or polyurethane sheets used between the mouth and vagina or anus during oral sex. This reduces your risk of contracting STD while still allowing for clitoral or anal stimulation. You can purchase a dental dam or quickly make one out of a condom.

Following are the steps by which you can make your own dental dam out of a condom.

Step 1: Initial Check

After making sure about the expiry date of the condom, look for if the packet has any the hole or tampered with by squeezing the packet to feel the air inside (like a bag of chips).

This is done because the condoms are sensitive to heat, cold, folding, sunlight and rubbing.

Step 2: Opening a condom pack

To do this push the condom to one side as shown in the image below and then rip down the other side of the package be careful fingernails and jewelry can damage condoms.

Tip: If someone is allergic to latex, they can use a latex-free condom

Step 3: Cut the tip of the condom

While the condom is still rolled up cut the tip of the condom off as shown below.

Step 4: Shaping the condom to latex

Keep the condom rolled up and put the scissors through the middle and cut through one side of the ring as shown in the image below.

Step 5: Unroll the condom

Now unroll the condom and now you have it in a rectangular shape, ready to spread out over a vulva or anus.

You just have to place this between you mouth or the vagina/anus. Like condom you just have to use this one time. No reuse, no turnover.

Dental Dams always acts as an additional layer to protect you while having oral sex during oral-vaginal sex (also called cunnilingus) or oral-anal sex or rimming (also called anilingus). It is one way of protecting yourself. For a sexually active person, it is essential to have an STD check-up once in 6 months, even when there are no symptoms.