Sustainability at Newmarket Family Dental Care
Newmarket Family Dental is on a mission to provide effective, high quality dental care that is also environmentally friendly and sustainable - also known as green dentistry. We're committed to raising awareness among our community of the need to ‘think green’, and have taken steps towards providing more sustainable practises within our clinic.
What is green dentistry?
Simply put, green dentistry is the delivery of oral care and treatments that utilise methods and materials which are environmentally-friendly and sustainable. Not only does green dentistry seek to minimise the waste and pollution generated by the industry through using high-tech innovations, it also seeks to make dental treatments more effective and beneficial for patients.
Dentistry is renowned for creating a lot of waste. This is part and parcel of keeping health and hygiene standards as high as possible, but as a sustainability focus evolves and becomes more prominent globally, so too has environmentally friendly dental supplies and equipment. NFDC has taken several steps towards sustainable supplies, as well as looking at structural and energy-efficient changes to the clinic where feasible.
Our Fifteen Steps of Sustainability
Here are the 15 steps we have created so far in order to be a more sustainably focussed business. We envisage that this will grow over time, and we hope to add more points to this list as we grow and evolve.
1. We have introduced reusable, sterilisable stainless steel cups. These will be washed and autoclaved between patients along with our other instruments and standard sterilisation protocols.
2. We are stocking toothbrushes and interdental brushes that are made from bamboo. These are compostable meaning they are very eco-friendly, while still providing and maintaining good oral care. Made from sustainable resources, the brush is 96.3% biodegradable (not 100% due to the wire). The packaging is made from recycled material and is also recyclable.
3. Reducing supplier waste. We have approached our supply companies to reduce packaging and combine postage to reduce packaging where possible.
4. We are using environmentally friendly products where possible.
5. We support locally owned businesses. Particularly those that support sustainability practices AND support local business and communities.
6. We are using eco-friendly and restorative materials. Such as composite and porcelain restorations to replace silver dental amalgam fillings. Dental amalgam is one of the biggest contributors to mercury and silver consumption in a dental practice. Dental amalgam is being phased out of dental practice across the globe, with dental composite resin and porcelain restorations becoming more popular. Not only does this provide a more natural looking result for our patients, the composite and ceramic restorations are more environmentally friendly, reducing the amount of heavy metal waste ending up in the environment.
7. We utilise digital radiography. Digital x-rays expose patients to approximately 90% less radiation than traditional x-rays. While the levels of radiation were generally safe for infrequent, short doses, this drastic reduction greatly reduces even the remotest risk. Patients are also given better peace of mind over the radiation they’re being subjected to during a scan. In terms of green practices, digital radiography significantly reduces the amount of heavy metals involved in dentistry. Processing traditional x-rays involves lead and silver, not to mention chemicals within the photographic plates themselves. By doing away with the need to process photographic prints of x-rays, dentists reduce the amount of heavy chemicals they put out into the environment.
8. We have subscribed to Terracycle. We will have a collection depot onsite for the collection of plastics used within the clinic. We will encourage our clients to drop off their plastics to this depot too. It will work similarly to your own home's recycling bin in that plastics must be relatively clean prior to depositing into the bins. Our depot will accept cleaned tooth brushes, tooth paste tubes, mouthwash bottles, and cardboard packaging from toothpastes. Feel free to email us to enquire about an additional plastic not mentioned here.
9. We are reducing our paper waste. While the dream of a truly paperless office is still a while away, we are always looking for ways to continually reduce paper use . Appointment reminders and communication is sent by email where possible.
10. We have improved our sterilisation techniques. Soaps, antibacterial disinfectants, and other cleaning chemicals are major contributors to the pollution of waterways worldwide. Sterilisation and hygiene are of the utmost importance in the dental industry, so finding sterilisation techniques which reduce harmful chemicals is a top priority. Green dentistry frequently employs the use of steam sterilisation and high-quality, biodegradable disinfectants. These don’t require permits for toxic waste disposal, or special ventilation for harmful vapours. Waste is reduced, and staff health is improved.
11. Caring for the future of wildlife. We are reminding staff to cut the ear loop ties on their disposable masks to reduce damage to wildlife.
12. Organising waste for efficiency. We are separating kitchen waste and composting left over food waste where possible.
13. Green composting. We are engaging the services of a green composting company for garden waste.
14. Updates to hot water usage. We have changed our hot water cylinder to a more energy efficient model.
15. Generating more green space. We are creating green spaces onsite, by collecting rain water for our edible garden – growing avocados / spinach / tomatoes / lemons / grapefruit / berries / and a selection of herbs.
Additionally we are reminding staff and patients we are a 7 minute walk from Newmarket Train Station and have a bus stop right outside NFDC, at 118 Remuera Road.
Do you have an additional idea or suggestion to put forward on ways we can become more sustainable for our business and community? Send us a message via the contact page.