The College has published Sustainability in dentistry: Leading for change, a scoping review to inform and engage the dental profession, industry, and wider oral health and dental care infrastructure on the environmental sustainability of practicing dentistry.
With the sub-title Environmentally sustainable dentistry to address the climate crisis, the review is organised thematically to provide an in-depth exploration of a wide range of factors such as legislation, health service emissions targets, prescribing, procurement, education and regulation, and makes recommendations for change that can be undertaken by each part of the system. It also presents case studies of exemplar efforts made to address the environmental impact of dental care and oral health services, and includes suggestions for further reading.
The review was written by a team of eight Clinical Fellows working at national dental organisations as part of the Chief Dental Officer for England’s Clinical Leadership Scheme, with input from expert contributors from academia, dental practice and government organisations.
Produced with the support of the Office of the Chief Dental Officer for England and the College of General Dentistry, it aims to inspire positive change by all those involved in the provision of oral healthcare related products, services and policy.
On behalf of the authors, Amarantha Fennell-Wells, Senior Clinical Policy Manager at the Office of the Chief Dental Officer England, said:
“Dental care creates a significant carbon footprint, and we owe it to current and future generations to contribute to emissions reduction by making our dental practice as environmentally sustainable as possible. Each practice and all staff can play their part in delivering sustainability in dentistry, and our review synthesises information which we hope will be educational and inspiring of collaboration to achieve a more sustainable future for the profession and dental patients.”
The document is freely available to download via a new College webpage which signposts a selection of free e-learning resources, guidelines and other tools which dental practitioners and practices can use to understand and reduce their environmental impact.