title: Going green with eco-friendly dentistry.
abstract: Eco-friendly dentistry is currently transforming the medical and dental field to decrease its affect on our natural environment and reduce the amount of waste being produced. Eco-friendly dentistry uses a sustainable approach to encourage dentists to implement new strategies to try and reduce the energy being consumed and the large amount of waste being produced by the industry. Many reasonable, practical and easy alternatives do exist which would reduce the environmental footprint of a dental office were it to follow the 'green' recommendations. Dentist should take a leading role in the society by implementing 'green' initiatives to lessen their impact on the environment. This article provides a series of 'green' recommendations that dentists around the world can implement to become a leading Stewards of the environment.
authors.affiliation: Reader, Department of Orthodontics, JSS Dental College and Hospital Mysore, Karnataka, India, e-mail: drbhagya_la@yahoo.co.in.
authors.forename: Bhagyalakshmi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Avinash
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Avinash
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Shivalinga
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jyothikiran
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Padmini
mesh_terms: D003199:Computer Systems; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D003723:Dental Amalgam; D003748:Dental Equipment; D003770:Dental Offices / Q000458:organization & administration; D018057:Dental Waste / Q000517:prevention & control; D003815:Dentists; D058735:Environmental Policy; D006256:Hazardous Waste / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D017744:Medical Waste Disposal / Q000295:instrumentation; D059027:Recycling; D018505:Waste Management / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D018057:Dental Waste; D006256:Hazardous Waste; D017744:Medical Waste Disposal; D003723:Dental Amalgam