Evidence summary: can plastics used in dentistry act as an environmental pollutant? Can we avoid the use of plastics in dental practice?

Abstract

Since August 2009, members of the Primary Care Dentistry Research Forum (www.dentistryresearch.org) have taken part in an online vote to identify questions in day-to-day practice that they felt most needed to be answered with conclusive research. The question that receives the most votes each month forms the subject of a critical appraisal of the relevant literature. Each month a new round of voting takes place to decide which further questions will be reviewed. Dental practitioners and dental care professionals are encouraged to take part in the voting and submit their own questions to be included in the vote by joining the website. The paper below details a summary of the findings of the twelfth critical appraisal. In order to address the question, searches of the literature were conducted to identify any articles discussing or evaluating the use of plastic in dental practice, or interventions that might reduce the use of plastics in dental practice. There were no studies identified that directly answered the question of this review. In a narrative review, environmental audit was suggested as a strategy that could help dental practitioners make more informed decisions in their practice; but there were not any studies that evaluated this. Further studies are need to demonstrate what proportion of dental waste includes plastics and whether specific interventions such as environmental audit can decrease the amount of plastic use and waste along with improving other environmental outcomes.