The Importance of Eco-Friendly Dentistry
The eco-friendly movement is taking the planet by storm. Increasingly, consumers expect every industry to boost up to the plate and fulfill their demands for environmentally responsible products and practices. Dentistry isn’t any exception; eco-friendly dentists, like the Long Beach dentist, are growing in number, they are the patients who seek them out.
But what’s eco-friendly dentistry, exactly? Eco-friendly dentistry, also called green dentistry or sustainable dentistry, aims to cut back the environmental impact of dental services while adhering to regular standards of care and treatment. The key elements of sustainable practice are often lessened into three Rs with which most people are already familiar:
Reduce
Like many industries that utilize office buildings, there’s a growing movement to cut back paper waste in dental offices in a shot to be more eco-friendly. This typically involves going digital by converting paper files, medical histories, and other documents into a web or cloud-based system.
Reuse
Dental work requires an outsized amount of developing liquids like amalgam, which is commonly employed in dental restorations (most commonly cavity fillings). These liquids can contaminate the water system if not disposed of properly. Today’s eco-friendly dentists install special separators that trap amalgam before it enters the sewage works, making it available for collection and reuse.
Recycle
There are many materials employed in dental offices which will be recycled, like paper, cardboard, aluminum, and plastics. Additionally, practices that want to be greener may choose to purchase biodegradable products, which enable “waste” to be recycled into the environment.
Because most dentistry necessitates the usage of single-use items, biodegradable supplies are an incredible option for the eco-friendly dentist, as long as they’re safe, hygienic, and from a reputable manufacturer. Biodegradable products are decomposed by bacteria and other organisms. They break down quickly without harming the environment.
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Cotton is among the foremost popular biodegradable materials, and dentists use it all the time in single-use dental staples. Biodegradable cotton options include:
- Econo Rolls
- Cotton Pellets
- Cotton-Filled Exodontia Sponges
- 100% Cotton Nonwoven Sponges
- All Gauze Sponges
- Cotton Tipped Applicators
Cotton may be a highly sustainable crop that will survive on rainwater and comparatively few pesticides. That’s what makes cotton such a decent choice for dentists looking to form their practices more sustainable: It’s an all-around eco-friendly material with negligible effects on the environment, from farming to production to disposal. Rapid advancement in sustainable cotton farming is simply making this truer every year, as organic options get the marketplace.