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Sustainable dentistry

The current status of sustainability in the dental profession

Key points

  • Environmental sustainability in oral healthcare is an important emerging subject that is inextricably linked to our activities as oral healthcare professionals.

  • There is an increasing awareness of the need to work together with other stakeholder groups across our profession to achieve meaningful impactful outcomes.

  • Research and knowledge exchange are key to the promotion and attainment of long-lasting environmental sustainability goals.

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Fig. 1

References

  1. United Nations. The Secretary-General of the United Nations Address at Columbia University: The State of the Planet. 2020. Available at https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/2020/12/sgspeech-the-state-of-planet.pdf (accessed December 2022).

  2. Office for National Statistics. Worries about Climate Change, Great Britain: September to October 2022. 2022. Available at https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/articles/worriesaboutclimatechangegreatbritain/septembertooctober2022 (accessed December 2022).

  3. Martin N, Mulligan S, Shellard I J, Hatton P V. Consensus on Environmentally Sustainable Oral Healthcare: A Joint Stakeholder Statement. 2022. Available at https://universitypress.whiterose.ac.uk/site/books/m/10.22599/OralHealth/ (accessed December 2022).

  4. Martin N, Mulligan S. Environmental Sustainability Through Good-Quality Oral Healthcare. Int Dent J 2022; 72: 26-30.

  5. Duane B, Dixon J, Ambibola G et al. Embedding environmental sustainability within the modern dental curriculum - Exploring current practice and developing a shared understanding. Eur J Dent Educ 2021; 25: 541-549.

  6. Field J, Martin N, Duane B et al. Embedding environmental sustainability within oral health professional curricula-Recommendations for teaching and assessment of learning outcomes. Eur J Dent Educ 2022; DOI: 10.1111/eje.12852.

  7. Planetary Health Report Card. Available at https://phreportcard.org/ (accessed December 2022).

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Correspondence to Nicolas Martin.

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Martin, N. The current status of sustainability in the dental profession. Br Dent J 234, 242–243 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-023-5568-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-023-5568-4

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