‘An opportunity to work as sustainably as possible’
A version of this Q&A first appeared in the Dental Bite Newsletter. Sign up to here to receive the weekly newsletter.
By Carrie Pallardy | for Dental Bite
How can dentists embrace sustainability in their practices? There are many opportunities, but it can be difficult to figure out where to start.
Donna Hackley, DMD, is an assistant professor in oral health policy and epidemiology and global and community health and faculty of pre-doctoral pediatric dentistry at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. She is actively involved in many sustainability efforts at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and with organizations like the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) and FDI World Dental Federation. Dr. Hackley spoke with Dental Bite about the growing awareness of environmental sustainability in dentistry and how dental students and practicing dentists can drive more change.
How do you view the current state of sustainability in dentistry? What are some of the successes you've seen in recent years? What are some of the challenges that remain?
Care for the environment has never been more important. We oral health professionals have a responsibility as well as an opportunity to work as sustainably as possible.
Fortunately, the interest is certainly growing among oral healthcare professionals, dental educators and students and our patients. One area of success is increased research in peer-reviewed publications on topics like climate impacts on health, life cycle analyses (LCAs) and carbon foot-printing, dental materials and incorporation of sustainability concepts into dental education.
Another area of success is the formal organizing of like-minded individuals around sustainability in dentistry such as the Special Interest Group (SIG) at ADEA, FDI World Dental Federation Task Team on Sustainability in Dentistry, groups like Practice Greenhealth and the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare and the grassroots movements of dental students who form active sustainability committees at their schools.
A challenge that remains, which is an opportunity, is that there is not a list of best practices.
What kind of research do you think is necessary to better understand and address sustainability issues in dentistry?
Today’s practitioners are extremely busy, and I find that while many are interested in practicing more sustainably, they cannot spend endless hours researching and comparing options. They want to ensure that their sustainability measures do not adversely impact patient care, are not cost prohibitive or overly burdensome to the team and are evidence-based recommendations. Sound research will support this.
LCAs [life cycle assessments] evaluate carbon footprints and guide us in making decisions on selecting hygiene products (toothbrushes, pastes and floss), restorative materials and even treatment procedures.
Research and development of better restorative materials will allow for better function, improved longevity and less harmful impact on the environment. Surveys can help us understand providers’ and patients’ motivations, facilitators and barriers to embracing sustainable practices.
Research is also needed on health outcomes associated with environmental changes related to dentistry. Ultimately, our research could lead us to formulating a list of best practices to support practitioners in navigating their decisions on sustainable practices.
How do you see awareness of sustainability of oral healthcare changing in dental education? Are dental students becoming more cognizant of these issues before they launch their careers?
Students are passionate drivers of this change. They understand the urgent need to care for our common home and with fresh eyes they notice ways we can be more sustainable.
At Harvard Medical School, where dental students spend their early years of training, students participated on a team that worked to incorporate sustainability concepts throughout the medical curriculum.
At the national level, the ADEA SIG delivered a presentation at the annual meeting to raise awareness and generate involvement among educators.
On a global scale, our task team work at FDI continues to expand the depth and breadth of resources we offer in addition to planning annual summits and acknowledging sustainability champions.
What can practicing dentists do to assess the sustainability of the practices today? How can they adopt impactful strategies to improve sustainability?
A few key areas of action for practicing dentists and their team members include: maximizing disease prevention, practicing good waste management, minimizing energy and water use and facilitating active and public transportation to the office. This is certainly not a complete list and a great place to find more information and tips on getting started is at the FDI World Dental Federation website.
Teams can find the user-friendly toolkit, our massive open online courses (MOOCs) and amazing colleague testimonials.
In any case, we can start by translating essential sustainable practices from home to our offices, with very easy tasks and launch our professional team’s journey of environmental sustainability in dentistry.
Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.
