You don’t have to be a practice owner to champion sustainability. And practicing in a sustainable way isn’t just about reusing, recycling and flicking light switches when you leave a room [1] [2]. Here are five ways you can champion your personal sustainable practice no matter where you work and who you work with, or for.
1. Champion prevention to reduce interventions.
Motivate patients to champion prevention to reduce their environmental footprint [2,3]. Many of our patients are aware of their environmental impact, and some may wish to leave a smaller footprint [3]. Prevention reduces the need for interventions to mitigate upstream energy consumption such as manufacturing and transport of treatments and materials, and reduced patient journeys further mitigates carbon emissions [1].
2. Promote and provide optimal long-term interventions
Include environmental costs as a consideration when you discuss treatment options with patients [2, 4]. Opt for materials that have a track record for quality and durability. Durable treatment options reduce long-term financial burden, reduce environmental costs, and increase patient satisfaction. While the initial cost of a temporary solution appears low, long term costs include additional appointments for repairs, that result in wasted materials, resources, and clinical time, and can diminish your career satisfaction [1, 4].
3. Harness the power of collaboration
Understand the benefits of integrated care [2,4] by involving suppliers, practice staff and patients. Maintain a good stock control system by advocating to order products in bulk to reduce transportation costs, and use materials before expiry [1].
Plan and communicate your procedures in advance to help your assistant anticipate immediate clinical need to reduce their sterilising load and waste.
Consider batching appointments for families and book long appointments for multiple treatments. As long as it’s financially viable for patients, long appointments reduce surgery turnover, sterilising loads, improves your hourly rate reduces patient visits and consequently, emissions [1, 4].
4. Strive for dental excellence
Become a lifelong learner and adapt new technologies and methods [4]. Many new technologies are designed with the environmental factors in consideration. For instance, cloud based practice software reduces paper waste and scanning technologies replace impression material.
5. Be the change…
you want to see (attributed to Mahatma Ghandhi). Research shows that our behaviours, beliefs and health outcomes are often shaped by the people close to us [5]. Essentially, we are the sum of the five closest people in our circle, and our habits and behaviours are moulded and influenced by our proximal networks [6]. And in dental practice, our networks are our colleagues, and support staff. We spend more time with our workmates, than we do with our own partners and family. So if you want to influence your fellow workers, be the change you want to see. Start incorporating these practices into your workflow, and you may be surprised the ripple effect and influence in everyone’s behaviour [1].
You don’t have to be a practice owner to champion sustainability. Remember to promote the environmental benefits of prevention, deliver durable dental interventions, unite to mitigate waste, adapt evidence based sustainable practices and champion sustainabilityin your practice.
About the Author
Dr Arosha Weerakoon
Queensland
Dr Arosha Weerakoon is senior lecturer and course coordinator at the University of Queensland’s (UQ) School of Dentistry in public health and professional practice, supervises research in dental materials, and is part of a multidisciplinary UQ team working to implement and evaluate the use of AI in higher education. She is principal dentist and owner of Tewantin Family Dental on the Sunshine Coast, serves as Deputy Chair of the Clinical Advisory Council for Country to Coast Queensland, and as an Advocate for Oral Health and Key Opinion Leader for Colgate. She collaborates with industry partners such as Kuraray Noritake Dental, contributes to national and international professional bodies, including the Australian Dental Congress organising committee. Arosha is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons, International College of Dentists, and the Pierre Fouchard Academy.
Her commitment to professional development was recognised with the 2022 BOQ Specialist Practice Bursary from the Australian Dental Association (QLD) and the Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Convention Trailblazer Grant in 2019. The same year, she won Universities Australia’s Vice Chancellor’s Award for science communication.
As a science communicator, Arosha communicates oral health messages to the public through various media platforms. Globally, Arosha is the top contributor on oral health-related articles for The Conversation Media Group. She is dedicated to enhancing oral and general health through community engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration, and patient empowerment. As a Colgate Advocate for Oral Health, Arosha aims to foster meaningful dialogue among health professionals to improve patient outcomes and inspire greater clinical engagement with research.
References
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- Association., A.D. Sustainable Dentistry: How to Guide for Australian Dental Practices. [Online] 2025 [cited 2025 March 16]; Available from: https://ada.org.au/ resources/sustainable-dentistry.
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- Martin, N. and S. Mulligan, Environmental Sustainability Through Good-Quality Oral Healthcare. Int Dent J, 2022. 72(1): p. 26-30.
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- Byrka, K. and F.G. Kaiser, Health performance of individuals within the Campbell paradigm. International Journal of Psychology, 2013. 48(5): p. 986-999.
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- Duane, B., et al., Sustainability in Dentistry: A Multifaceted Approach Needed. Journal of Dental Research, 2020. 99(9): p. 998-1003.
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- Umberson, D. and J. Karas Montez, Social relationships and health: A flashpoint for health policy. Journal of health and social behavior, 2010. 51(1_suppl): p. S54-S66.
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- Swart, T., The Source: Open Your Mind, Change Your Life. 2019: Random House