title: Composition and production rate of dental solid waste and associated management practices in Hamadan, Iran.
abstract: The objective of this study was to identify the components, composition and production rate of dental solid waste and associated management practices in dental offices in Hamadan. A total of 28 offices, including ten general dentist offices, eight specialist dentist offices, five practical dentist offices and five denture maker offices were selected in a random way. Three samples from each selected type were taken and the waste was manually separated into 74 sub-fractions and each sub-fraction was weighed. The results showed that the total annual dental waste production in dental offices was 41947.43 kg. Domestic type, potentially infectious, chemical and pharmaceutical and toxic waste constituted 71.15, 21.40, 7.26 and 0.18%, respectively of this amount. Only seven fractions including gypsum, latex gloves, nylon, dental impression material, used medicine ampoules, saliva-contaminated paper towels and saliva ejectors constituted about 80% of the waste. It was also indicated that there were no effective activity for waste minimization, separation, reuse and recycling in dental offices and the management of sharps, potentially infectious waste and other hazardous waste was poor.
authors: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Ramin
authors: R
authors: Nabizadeh
authors: Ali
authors: A
authors: Koolivand
authors: Ahmad Jonidi
authors: AJ
authors: Jafari
authors: Massoud
authors: M
authors: Yunesian
authors: Gasemali
authors: G
authors: Omrani
mesh_terms: D018057:Dental Waste; D007492:Iran; D017744:Medical Waste Disposal; D011215:Practice Management, Dental
chemical_list: D018057:Dental Waste; D017744:Medical Waste Disposal