Dry hands in the hygiene op: How to keep hands healthy
Key Highlights
- Frequent hand washing and sanitizing, especially in health care, can lead to dry, cracked skin, increasing infection risk and discomfort.
- Using lukewarm water, patting hands dry, and applying moisturizer while hands are still damp helps lock in moisture and prevent dryness.
- Nighttime treatments like hand masks, gloves, and humidifiers, along with fragrance-free, occlusive creams, can significantly improve hand hydration.
- Choosing products with ceramides, glycerin, and hyaluronic acid supports skin barrier repair and moisture retention.
- Protective measures such as wearing gloves during cleaning and dishwashing, and avoiding petroleum-based products with latex gloves, are essential for hand health.
Staring at my dry hands through his magnifying glasses, my dermatologist exclaimed, “WHY are your hands SO BAD?” “I’m a dental hygienist, and I wash my hands a lot and wear gloves.” “Ahhh,” he said, “that’s the problem!”
But it’s not really a problem, it’s my career. And I actually thought my hands looked better than they have in the past. Chagrinned, I find myself in my “hand care diva era.”
Why RDHs should care for our hands
Skin is the body’s largest organ and the first line of defense against infections, and dry, cracked skin presents a challenge. Deep cracks and fissures in dry hands can crack open and bleed, allowing bacteria to enter. Common problems in the hands include chronic skin conditions and infections, and excessive dryness can trigger atopic dermatitis or hand eczema.1
Dry hands can also be an indication of underlying problems such as diabetes, thyroid disease, vitamin or mineral deficiencies, and skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, and contact allergies.1
In contrast to the palms of your hands, the skin on the back of your hands has fewer fatty tissues and sebaceous glands., making it thin and sensitive. Having fewer sebaceous glands causes the backs to be more prone to dryness due to the inability to lock in moisture.2
Dry hands are all too familiar to those of us in dental practices, and they can be aggravated by over washing and alcohol-based sanitizers. The ADA guidelines for universal hand hygiene states that dental health-care workers should wash their hands:
- Anytime they treat a patient, both before and after
- Anytime they put on gloves and immediately after removing them
- Anytime bare hands touch instruments, materials, and/or equipment likely to be contaminated by blood, saliva, or respiratory secretions
- Anytime they reglove or remove gloves that are torn, cut, or punctured
- Anytime hands are visibly soiled
- Before leaving the dental operatory3
No surprises there, but that’s a lot of time cleaning our hands!
When to use hand sanitizers
When hands are not visibly soiled, an alcohol-based hand sanitizer is efficient. In a dental or health-care setting, alcohol-based hand sanitizers are preferred because they’re more effective at killing germs on the surface of the hands than soap. Hand sanitizers actually cause less irritation and dryness than soap and water. To be effective, it takes about 20 seconds to apply the sanitizer and massage it through the fingers before the product dries on the hands.4
Solutions for your poor hands
In a quest to please my dermatologist, I searched for solutions to reduce dryness and irritation that come from both dental hygiene and basic life. I found the obvious things, like using fragrance-free soaps and moisturizer, especially after a day of frequent washing. But what other kinds of routines work well?
Don’t forget about your hands, even during daily tasks at home. A few easy interventions include wearing gloves when using household cleaning products and doing dishes. Compared to using a CaviWipe at work, bathroom cleaners and dish soap are less formidable but still cause skin issues and dry hands.
Hands should be washed in lukewarm, not boiling hot, water, and patted dry after washing, not rubbed. Be sure to fully dry the hands so that retained water does not evaporate and leave hands drier, especially between the fingers.2 It’s good to moisturize while hands are still a little damp to lock in the moisture.1
Pamper your hands on nights and weekends, especially during the cold, dry winter months. Exfoliators, hand masks, and night moisturizing are good ways to practice hand care, and a mix of these can be beneficial. Exfoliating helps shed dead dry skin and should be followed immediately by hand cream.
There are a variety of hand masks that claim to leave hands soft and hydrated. Moisturizing overnight is a way to keep thick hand cream on for a long period of time and can be combined with gloves to really lock it in!5
American Academy of Dermatology and OSHA recommendations
A spokesperson for the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) suggests this nighttime hand treatment: soak hands in warm water or milk, apply cream, cover with cotton gloves, and use a humidifier while sleeping.
They also suggest a fragrance-free, dye-free cream and ingredients with ceramides and humectants like glycerin and hyaluronic acid. The AAD notes that rather than thin lotions that can be pumped out of a bottle, thick creams in a squeeze tube are preferable for dry hands.6
Products containing occlusives like petrolatum or mineral oil are good at locking in moisture. However, be cautious with these products if you’re using latex gloves as they can inhibit the effectiveness of latex gloves. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recommends avoiding petroleum and mineral oil when using latex gloves.7
I’m not going to be a hand model for a jewelry company anytime soon, but perhaps by being a little more intentional with my hand care, I can keep them a little smoother, healthier, and working for a long time!
References
1. Dry skin – symptoms and causes. Mayo Clinic. August 25, 2023. Accessed October 25, 2025. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dry-skin/symptoms-causes/syc-20353885
2. Dry hands – causes, symptoms, & treatment. Eucerinus. April 8, 2025. Accessed October 25, 2025. https://www.eucerinus.com/skin-care-101/dry-skin/dry-hands
3. Hand hygiene. American Dental Association. Accessed October 25, 2025. https://www.ada.org/resources/practice/legal-and-regulatory/05_hand-hygiene
4. About hand hygiene for patients in healthcare settings. Clean Hands. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. February 27, 2024. Accessed October 25, 2025. https://www.cdc.gov/Clean-Hands/About/Hand-Hygiene-for-Healthcare.html
5. 5 immediate fixes for dry hands. Neutrogena. 2023. Accessed October 25, 2025. https://www.neutrogena-me.com/beauty-and-skincare-tips/skincare/five-immediate-fixes-dry-hands
6. 4 skin care tips for your hands. American Association of Dermatology. May 25, 2021. Accessed October 28, 2025. https://www.aad.org/public/everyday-care/skin-care-basics/care/skin-care-tips-hands
7. Mineral oil and/or petrolatum containing skin care products and latex gloves. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 2025. Accessed October 28, 2025. https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/1993-08-24
About the Author
Kelsey Whetten, RDH
Kelsey lives in a small Northern Arizona town. She has more than 12 years of experience as an RDH and loves living near and working closely with her patients. Her favorite part of the job is generating genuine smiles and optimizing oral health. In addition to her love of teeth, Kelsey is mom to an awesome food allergy kiddo, and thus also has a passion for spreading awareness about inclusion.