Sustainable Dentistry
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Dentistry as a profession should integrate sustainable development goals into daily practice and support a shift to a green economy in the pursuit of healthy lives and well-being for all through all stages of life.
This How-to Guide for Australian Dental Practices (the Guide) has been developed as a practical resource for Australian dental teams wishing take action to make their practice more sustainable. It is an Australian version of the original guide, Sustainable Dentistry: How-to Guide for Dental Practices, published by the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, United Kingdom.
Its aim is to provide dental professionals in Australia with an introductory resource that explores practical strategies and actionable steps towards pursuing sustainability in their practices. By focusing on a range of impactful areas including stock inventory management, energy efficiency, amalgam waste reduction, enhancing the built environment, active travel and sustainable measurement and evaluation, this guide aims to empower dental practitioners to make informed decisions and implement sustainable changes.
Transport in Australia ranks as the country’s third most significant contributor responsible for 19% of greenhouse gas emissions. It’s also responsible for approximately 65% of carbon emissions from dentistry.
There are a number of ways that dental teams can influence the environmental impact and reduce costs, including most impactfully through optimising your stock management system.
As well as contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, energy generation from fossil fuels is a significant source of air pollution. Reducing energy consumption and investing in renewable electricity generation offers significant cost, health, and environmental benefits for dental practices.
Disposing of our waste and sending it to landfill or incineration has a major environmental impact through the release of greenhouse gases and pollution of air, land and water.
Extreme weather events at home and overseas have raised global awareness of how declining environmental health impacts every aspect of life, from national security to the economy, but especially, public health.
Sustainable practice must be embedded within existing policies and procedures to ensure its longevity. This requires careful thought and planning to ensure buy-in from the dental team and support from management.