Dental Waste
This dental product is used daily for basic dental hygiene. If all of America used it as reccomended by the ADA, there would be enough waste to circle the Earth 1,246 times.
What is floss?
Costs from $60-$90 for a pack of 20. Multiple of these can be used in one visit because of their tendency to break.
What is framed rubber dam?
The part of a dental visit that contributes the highest portion (estimated around 60%) to the dental industry's carbon footprint. (Think outside the box!)
What is travel to and from appointments?
The common phrase many health professional students use to excuse their unsustainable habits
What is "I paid for this"?
Many people think of sustainable dentistry as only using recyclable and eco-friendly materials. There is a key principle dentists can go by to reduce their impact and keep their patients healthier through focusing on their patients habits and dental routine.
What is preventative dentistry?
A behavior that results in using about 4 gallons of water
What is brushing your teeth with the water running?
Costs $200 per 4.5 mL bottle and needs to be light cured
What is prime and bond?
1 billion of these are thrown away each year in the US alone and take 500 years or more to decompose
What are plastic toothbrushes?
This specialty rotation produces the most amount of waste by students
What is Prosthodontics?
Although working towards a sustainable future is important, this cannot be jeopardized while doing so
What is infection control?
This company has started a program where they partner with dental practices to collect and recycle all brands of used or empty toothpaste tubes and caps, toothbrushes, toothpaste cartons, toothbrush outer packaging, and floss containers
What is Colgate? (Terracycle)
Costs $450 for 144 pouches of this material and requires MANY attempts before success
What is alginate?
This uses the same amount of energy as 16 households in a day
What is a dental office?
These are sterilized and reused in private practice, but thrown away after one use by dental students
What are carbide burs?
Decomposes 50 times faster than its plastic counterpart
What is a bamboo toothbrush?
*These take about 5 years to decompose and can be just as good for your teeth as plastic toothbrushes
The US Environmental Protection Agency requires these in dental offices to achieve at least 95% removal efficiency of a potent neurotoxin from entering the environment
What are amalgam separators?
Costs $215 per cartridge and comes in different shades
What is bis-acryl composite?
300 billion of these are used in the US each year across various industries and cannot be recycled
What are disposable gloves?
The number of pieces of plastic used to complete a new patient comprehensive exam
What is 28 pieces of plastic?
-exam: chair cover, tray cover, table cover, keyboard cover, mouse cover, 10 blue tape, air/water syringe w cover, bib, glasses, plastic mirror, wrapper for basic kit
-radiographs: chair, keyboard, mouse, sensor cover, xcp wrapper, machine, button cover
Silk is an alternative material for this and is biodegradable unlike its popular nylon form
What is dental floss?