Dr Reham Ma’ani Dental & Oral Surgeon
World Environment Day is a global platform for inspiring positive change. Do you know of “Sustainable Dentistry?” It delivers high quality care without damaging the environment. It is affordable and has a positive social impact.
Dentistry consumes enormous quantities of materials, energy, chemicals and water and produces vast amounts of waste, much of it toxic. Disposables include gloves, masks, suction tips, saliva ejectors, needles and paper. A lot of this waste does not easily decompose.
In addition, dental practices generate around five million lead foils, 28 million liters of toxic X-ray fixer, and around four tonnes of mercury waste each year.
In Jordan
In terms of implementation, the majority of Jordanian dentists follow a few eco-friendly dental office strategies. The most frequently identified barriers to implementation of eco-friendly dental office strategies are cost and lack of incentives from the government.
I’m asking all those working in my field of specialisation to be more sensitive to plastic waste. Let’s all work together to keep our planet clean.
Did you Know?
400 million tonnes of plastic is produced every year
Less than 10% of this quantity is recycled
Around 19 – 23 million tonnes of plastic end up in lakes, rivers and seas
Plastic clogs our landfills, leaches into the ocean and is combusted into toxic smoke, making it one of the most serious threats to the planet
Source: UN Environment Programme
You can contact Dr Reham Ma’ani at [email protected]
