Some of you may be wondering what a dental dam even is, and that’s fair! They aren’t as commonly used as condoms and are rarely talked about, especially in sex education.

Dental dams are small, thin, latex (or non-latex) sheets put over the vulva in order to prevent the spread of STIs during oral sex.

They can come in different flavors to make giving oral sex to someone with a vulva more fun!

Dental dams are NOT a form of pregnancy prevention and cannot be used for that purpose. They are solely for protection against sexually transmitted infections.

One big issue is that dental dams are far less accessible than condoms. But there’s an easy solution to this lack of accessibility that doesn’t involve shopping online for dental dams: make your own! They can be made from latex gloves and other similar items but most commonly, they can be made from condoms. Here’s how to do it: