DT News - UK - Report recommends that dentists cut their carbon footprint

Dental Tribune UK

Thu. 16 August 2018

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LONDON, UK: The recent European summer heatwave has brought climate change, and methods of combating it, to the fore of many public discussions. In keeping with this, a recently published report by Public Health England (PHE) has examined the environmental impact of dental work and how this could be reduced in line with the carbon footprint reduction targets of the UK and NHS.

The report, written by the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare for the PHE, details the carbon footprint of 17 of the most common dental procedures, along with the greenhouse gas emissions caused by activities such as patient and staff travel, waste disposal, and gas, electricity and water use.

According to the report, patient and staff travel was the main contributor to dentistry’s carbon footprint, as this was responsible for 27.1 per cent of the overall emissions from 2013 to 2014. Scaling and polishing was the second-largest contributor with 13.4 per cent of the overall emissions. This was followed by amalgam fillings, which accounted for 9.7 per cent.

Overall, greenhouse gas emissions in England from 2013 to 2014 as a result of NHS dental services were measured to be 675,706 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents—3 per cent of the NHS’s overall carbon footprint in England. This level of emissions is equivalent to flying from the UK to Hong Kong 50,000 times.

The emissions targets of the NHS, agreed upon in 2014 by the Health and Social Care System, are a 34 per cent and 80 per cent reduction in the national carbon footprint by 2020 and 2050, respectively, from 1990 levels. This corresponds directly to the stated targets of the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, an agreement that has been ratified by the UK government.

“With NHS primary dental being provided by over 20,000 dentists in over 8,000 dental practices, it is important that everyone does their share,” said Ingeborg Steinbach, Project Manager at the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare and author of the report.

“It is important to acknowledge that staff travel contributes a nearly equal amount to the NHS dental carbon footprint as patient travel. Dental staff can start by reviewing their own travel behaviour. Are they able to consider active travel for their commute? Would it be possible to opt for public transport or are there opportunities for lift sharing?” continued Steinbach.

Dr Brett Duane, co-author of the report and Associate Professor in Dental Public Health at Dublin Dental University Hospital, added: “There is a lot that dentists can do to reduce the carbon footprint and, in doing so, help their practice become both more environmentally and financially sustainable.”

Duane explained, “This can be as simple as changing to energy-efficient LED light bulbs, to printing double-sided, and incorporating recycling into the dental surgery.”

The report, titled Carbon Modelling Within Dentistry: Towards a Sustainable Future, was published online on 13 July 2018 and can be accessed here.

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