Abstract: A dental infection control system utilizing barrier protection to prevent cross-contamination between patients is disclosed. A unitary cover is provided for covering a piece of dental equipment to provide not only barrier protection but also ventilation openings for the device being protected. The unitary cover can be configured to position ventilation openings in the cover in proximity to any ventilation openings on the equipment being protected. A cover can be used to establish and maintain a multipieced instrument in compression and facilitate the operation of the instrument. A cover allows a transparent material to be placed in tension over a fiber optic portion of an instrument and reduce corruption of the light emitted from the instrument. In addition, provision is made to reverse the cover to reduce the possibility of contaminating the instrument when the cover is removed.