A Practical Guide to Green Dentistry

Reducing our carbon footprint, protecting the environment and reducing waste without compromising patient safety and quality of care.

Louis Mackenzie

Extensive time, research and hard work has gone into bringing this to you. As many of you know, in late 2023 we sadly lost our Head Dental Officer, Louis Mackenzie.

Louis was one of the many pioneers behind this module and so his image and voice are featured in this material, as it was recorded earlier in 2023.

We have chosen to keep it as a tribute to his hard work for the dental community. However, if you feel uncomfortable listening, please be reassured you can turn this feature off and read the transcript instead.

Podcast: A Practical Guide to Green Dentistry

Louis Mackenzie discusses challenges and opportunities in sustainable dentistry, emphasising the need for eco-friendly practices in dental environments. Despite sustainability not being explicitly mentioned in dental standards, many teams are adopting measures like policy development, education, and carbon footprint assessment.

This module explores climate change, the greenhouse effect, and the significant carbon footprint of dental services, especially in patient and staff travel. It concludes with proposed methods to minimise environmental impact, including oral health promotion and facility enhancements, along with key publications on sustainability in dentistry.

Sustainable Dentistry: An urgent need for change

Practical guides: Parts 1-3

Green Dentistry: A Practical Guide - Part 1

Louis Mackenzie shares an overview of the challenges and opportunities for practising sustainable dentistry.

Recycling symbol shaped lake in a forest

Green Dentistry: A Practical Guide - Part 2

Louis Mackenzie takes a look at waste, the environmental impact of dental care and how practices can become more sustainable.

Green Dentistry: A Practical Guide - Part 3

In the third and final article, Louis Mackenzie explores sustainable materials, equipment and energy.

Green dentistry podcasts and webinars with Professor Brett Duane

Sustainable Dentistry with Brett Duane

Take your Green Dentistry learning to a new level with webinars hosted by Professor Brett Duane, an expert in this field.

Our green toolkit

Explore our set of tools to help you in your aim to become more sustainable as a practice, these include a carbon calculator, a patient survey to capture travel information and a carbon toolkit, full of suggestions to help you reduce your carbon footprint.

Interested in joining us?

Join Denplan for expert support and growth opportunities in private dentistry. Membership includes access to the Denplan Academy Online, part of our Denplan Plus partnership agreement, which provides a wealth of training modules. You'll also get access to our established Training Academy, with tailor-made training for your practice, delivered either face-to-face or virtually.

Visit The Core for more articles, insights, and opinions from the dental world.

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