Oral & Anal Sex / Question
Published: January 8, 2004
Dear TeenHealthFX,
Hi. I am a male wanting to do oral sex on my girlfriend. I heard about dental dams but I don't know what they are. Can you please explain what a dental dam is? Thank you.
Signed: Dental Dams
Dear Dental Dams,
A dental dam is a square of latex (that is the same material a condom is made out of), which you can put over a woman's vulva (that is her vagina and the area around it) when you perform oral sex on her. Some sexually transmitted diseases can be transmitted from the mouth to the genitals, or from the genitals to the mouth. The dental dam can protect both of you from these.
A few tips:
You can buy dental dams at some sex stores, but if you do not have one handy, you can cut down the side of a condom to make one yourself.
Make sure you do not flip the dental dam over at any point while you are using it - in other words, your mouth should only touch one side of it the whole time. Some of them are marked so you do not get confused; if they are not, you can use a magic marker to indicate which side is which.
Just like with condoms, using a dental dam will be more pleasurable if you use a drop of lubricant.
It might take a little while to get the hang of using a dental dam, but be patient and take some time to experiment with using it. We are very glad to hear you are taking such good care of yourself and your girlfriend by having safer sex. For more information on how to do that, go here.
Signed: TeenHealthFX
Compared with other age groups, teens have the lowest rate of seat belt use, and male high school students are more likely than female students to rarely or never wear seat belts.
