Resources for sustainability in dentistry
Centre for Sustainable Healthcare includes a dedicated space for sustainable dentistry (Centre for Sustainable Healthcare). Their 2018 report, published with Public Health England, details a project to measure the carbon footprint of 17 common dental procedures in England.1 In addition, the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare includes a guide (Sustainable Dentistry: How-to Guide for Dental Practices), a training course about sustainable dentistry, online modules, and hosts a Dental Sustainability Network.
FDI World Dental Federation includes a project for sustainable dentistry with a consensus statement on environmentally sustainable oral healthcare, infographics and related journal articles. There is an interactive toolkit to help dentists and their teams to provide more sustainable practices and opportunities to apply for FDI Sustainability Awards.
British Dental Journal includes a collection of articles from their journal portfolio about sustainability and dentistry (Sustainable dentistry (nature.com)). This collection also includes a series of articles about each of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and their importance in relation to dentistry.
Clinical guidelines for environmental sustainability in dentistry (Guidance on Sustainable Dentistry | Sustainabledentistry (sustainablegreendentistry.com)). Published in January 2023, and developed by Trinity College Dublin (Republic of Ireland) and NHS England and the Office of the Chief Dental Officer England. Guidelines for 7 domains, includes an indication of costs (low, medium or high) and expected time for which the action can be achieved (1 month, 1 year, 5 years). Other sustainability publications and videos are available on the website.
Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP) Practice Support Manual (Sustainability | Practice Support Manual - SDCEP). The Practice Support Manual includes a topic page dedicated to sustainability issues: Reducing the environmental impact of dental care; and Embedding sustainability in practice.
1Public Health England and Centre for Sustainable Healthcare (2018). Carbon modelling within dentistry: towards a sustainable future. Available at: Carbon_modelling_within_dentistry (publishing.service.gov.uk); accessed 27 November 2023.