Practical Steps for Sustainable Dental Practices

Minimising single-use plastics is a vital step towards sustainability. Whilst we understand that it is not always possible to find such dental products that remain suitable for use in clinic - we encourage all healthcare professionals to educate patients on how they can select and use sustainable dental products at home.

TePe's sustainable solutions

TePe offers a range of high-quality, sustainably sourced, and reusable dental products for patients, that are designed to reduce waste without compromising effectiveness:

• TePe Interdental Brushes have been manufactured using high-quality, traceable bio-resin, allowing for these products to last through multiple cleaning sessions at home (provided the product has been correctly used and cleaned between each use*).

• The TePe Choice Toothbrush allows customers to replace the plastic head, rather than purchasing a new toothpaste every three to four months. The handle, on the other hand, is made from Swedish-grown beechwood and ISCC-certified plant-based material. By encouraging patients to opt for a sustainable toothbrush, such as TePe Choice, plastic waste is reduced by 80% compared to the average plastic toothbrush.

Many of you may have seen that our TePe Choice Toothbrush was recently selected as the 'Sustainable Toothbrush of Choice' by Ana Santi in a recent BBC Article.

*TePe Interdental Brushes are not suitable for clinical sterilisation or autoclave use.

By educating patients, healthcare professionals will not only strengthen community and patient engagement (by raising the ecological profile of the clinic) - but can also reduce the patient's individual contribution to the overall figure of emissions created by the healthcare industry.

Reducing clinic visits through effective home care benefits both your patients and the planet. By helping patients maintain optimal oral hygiene, you can reduce the frequency of emergancy treatments, which in turn lowers energy use in the clinic and minimises travel-related emissions.

Proactive and preventative patient education improves oral, social and mental health outcomes, lowers costs - whilst also strengthening community and patient engagement.

Proper waste segregation and recycling are essential for any dental practice aiming to minimise environmental impact. Here are key areas to address:

• Amalgam waste: Install amalgam separators to capture mercury and metals before they enter wastewater. Store captured amalgam in airtight containers and partner with specialised recycling facilities to safely process these materials.
• X-ray waste management: Transition to digital radiography to eliminate the need to film and processing chemicals, reducing hazardous waste and lowering energy consumption.* For practices still using traditional X-ray film, silver recovery units can reclaim excess silver, while lead foil should be disposed of through certified recycling services.

*Consult your energy provider for further insights on cost and energy savings.

Adopting energy-efficient equiptment and renewable energy sources can significantly lower your clinic's environmental impact and operating costs.

• Energy-efficient equiptment: Upgrade older devices to Energy star-rated  alternatives that consume less power.
• LED lighting: Replace incandescent or flourescent bulbs with LED lights which last longer and use up to 90% less energy.
• Water conservation: Install low-flow fixtures and chair-side water recyling systems to reduce water use.

Implementing Digital Records:

In the last decade, many dental practices have opted to store files and communicate with patients electronically, but there are still many clinics that prefer to use physical paper filing systems. Although we understand that each clinic is different and has unqiue preferences, we would like to kindly remind healthcare professionals of the benefits of digital activities.

By transferring from paper to digital records, they need to print, store, or dispose of paper/confidential record is reduced. Not only do digital records reduce the demand for paper - leading to fewer trees being cut down and less energy using in production, they can also offer clinics more physical storgage space.

Although we undrstand that som clients may prefer to recieve letters via the post, we would recommend encouraging these patients to opt for digital client communications where possible. Digital client communications can include appointment reminders, and invoices via email, phone call, or SMS. TePe also allows professionals to utlise the 'TePe Product Recommendation Tool'. As a dental professional, you can use this tool to recommend TePe products and how-to-use instructions via an interactive email.

At TePe, we're committed to minimising our environmental footprint through sustainable product design and renewable energy. Our mass balance approach tracks the materials and energy used throughout our manufacturing process, ensuring transparency and accountability. Many of our products are created using bio-resins as a sustainable alternative to fossil-based plastics.