From removing plaque deposits to taking and developing X-rays, Dental Hygienists play a crucial role in promoting good health through oral care.

But when it comes to the health of the planet, up-and-coming Dental Hygienists need to be thinking green – not just sparkling white – says Lucy Sohn, a recent graduate of the Canadian National Institute of Health.

“Think about how many students there are in the school and how many clinics there are each week,” she says. “The total number of unnecessary plastic barrier and plastic suction tube is a huge amount of waste.”

Students currently use and throw away cross-infection control items like gloves, masks, single-use cups and protective coverings from clinics.

While sanitation is paramount, it is possible to reduce waste without sacrificing proper infection control, says Sohn.

CNIH could reduce clinic waste significantly with the following tips:

• Sanitize, don’t scrap high volume suction lines that haven’t been used.
• Fill water bottles with appropriate amounts of water for appointments.
• Make prophy paste in bulk to reduce the amount of cups going to landfill. More than three million are already being dumped each year in the U.S. alone.
• Keep waste in its place with strategically placed, properly labelled recycle bins throughout the school.

These changes make both economical and environmental sense, says Sohn.

“There are some changes that may be difficult or expensive . . . (but) if students are raised in a school with environmentally friendly habits, they are more likely to continue them in the future,” she says.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 6th, 2010 at 2:55 pm and is filed under blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.