Darby Group Companies, the parent company of Darby Dental Supply, has announced a strategic investment in American Nitrile, the largest US manufacturer of nitrile gloves, based in Grove City, Ohio. Darby will be the first dental supplier to distribute the highly anticipated DenTouch™ Gloves — a new glove designed to meet the unique needs of the dental market with patented compression tip technology that improves dexterity and simplifies handling of small, intricate instruments used by dentists and dental hygienists. This technology is the biggest innovation in nitrile gloves in over a decade.
The new DenTouch gloves boast several key advantages over their foreign-produced counterparts. The gloves offer superior protection by meeting a pinhole AQL of 1.5, exceeding the FDA requirement by 60%. With all manufacturing and R&D taking place in American Nitrile’s state-of-the-art facility in Ohio, the company can ensure ethical labor practices and sustainable manufacturing processes during every step of production. Furthermore, American Nitrile eliminates unpredictable trans-pacific shipping, port delays, and the need to carry high safety stock. The company also emphasizes sustainability at all levels, recycling up to 40 gallons of water per case of gloves and using 100% recycled and recyclable cardboard packaging.
“Darby Group Companies’ commitment to bringing best-in-class solutions to the dental market has been central to our investment strategy,” said Frank Massino, President. “At the core of our business, we believe in making our customers’ lives easier and more efficient through innovative solutions to everyday problems. DenTouch gloves are a game-changer for the dental market because of their improved dexterity and unmatched ability to handle small instruments for more efficient and comfortable procedures. We are thrilled to bring the benefits of these gloves to dental practices and, in turn, to improve the quality of patient care, nationwide.”
Bringing the DenTouch glove to market is a natural undertaking for Darby Dental, who maintains an entire division dedicated to gloves. “Love Your Glove” by Darby provides customers with a vast selection of nitrile, polychloroprene, latex gloves and more, as well as expertise on fit and functionality though the company’s highly trained glove experts.
“Darby’s commitment to innovation, sustainability, and bringing the highest quality products to market is a natural extension of our own commitment and mission,” said Jacob Block, CEO and Founder of American Nitrile. “We are thrilled to leverage their decades of experience, expansive distribution network, and unwavering dedication to their customers to bring DenTouch gloves to market.”
Dental professionals can get a first look at the DenTouch gloves at Dykema’s Definitive Conference for DSOs in Aurora, Colorado, from July 19–21, 2023, where they will be debuted and receive a 2023 Innovation Award. Practices nationwide can begin placing orders at this time.
For more information, please visit www.darby.com/dentouch.
About Darby Dental Supply:
Darby Dental Supply is where supplies meet solutions — for 75 years and counting. Darby provides dental practices of all sizes with convenient access to more than 50,000 products as well as technology services, equipment repair, a full line of private label products, and dedicated glove, specialty, and capital equipment divisions.
Darby began in 1947 as a single mail-order catalog in Brooklyn and has become one of the largest dental distributors in the United States, shipping over one million orders each year while never losing sight of what matters most — their customers.
Darby focuses not only on improving dental practices nationwide but improving communities as a whole. Through purposeful investments and thoughtful advocacy efforts, Darby is committed to making a positive environmental and social impact on the world for generations to come. For more information, please visit www.darby.com.
About American Nitrile:
Based in Grove City, Ohio, American Nitrile is a privately held company focused on manufacturing medical and nonmedical gloves for healthcare, government, and industrial use. The company will manufacture approximately 3.6 billion gloves per year in their state-of-the-art 530,000 square foot manufacturing facility when fully scaled in 2024. The American Nitrile team brings together entrepreneurs and operators with extensive manufacturing, supply chain, and PPE experience. For more information, please visit www.americannitrile.com.