How Green is your Dental Routine?
Today we are reminded of the three R’s:
reduce, re-use, and recycle. We are also reminded of the importance of being environmentally friendly, and decreasing our impact on the environment. ♻️♻️
But just how green is your dental routine? 🦷
Make every drop count!
Water is extremely important to our state. In fact, inscribed inside our state capital building it says:
“Here is a land where life is written in water.” ITALICS —Thomas Hornsby Ferril
With limited supplies and increasing demand due to our ever growing population it is so important for us to conserve water. Our water resources are shrinking, and are predicted to keep decreasing due to the effects of global climate change.
Here are some simple steps:
Turn off the water
Apply toothpaste
Brush teeth for 2 minutes
Rinse & swish
Go Natural, Electric, Compost, or Recycle your toothbrush 🦷 ♻️
Over 50 million toothbrushes wind up in your local landfill every year && there are so many ways to prevent this!!
Try using an electric toothbrush with several uses or a toothbrush made from recyclable and reusable materials. You can easily find a variety of toothbrushes made from bamboo and beechwood.
If you choose to use the traditional plastic toothbrush make sure you recycle your old one every 3-4 months!
OR you can use your old toothbrush as an all purpose cleaner to get into those tight spaces!
Floss
Cleaning between your teeth is essential to your daily oral hygiene routine. Dental floss is typically made from Nylon or Teflon, these materials are not recyclable, but you don’t need a lot to get the job done!
There are some who advocate washing or reusing floss…. we definitely don’t recommend reusing floss! The American Dental Association also does not recommend using floss more then once due to increased risks of depositing bacteria, it can also fray and lose its effectiveness.
At Bradburn Village Dentistry we help to keep our planet healthy by:
-Recycling cardboard and paper
-Having electronic and digital records thus using less paper
-Digital x-rays so harsh chemicals aren’t being used to develop X-rays
-Using an amalgam separator to help keep Mercury out of the local wastewater
-Using as many reusable items, that can be sterilized, more often then plastic throw away items
Stay clean, live green!
