Sustainability has become a necessity in the learning and practice of health professionals. Dentistry, marked by the energy-intensive equipment and disposables dependency, chemical agents, and frequent patient movement, shows significant environmental and population health impacts. This chapter places sustainability in dental education by (i) situating oral health care in the midst of the larger challenge of climate change and environmental pollution, (ii) integrating evidence for the ecological effect of common dental practices and dental materials, (iii) outlining assessment tools such as life-cycle analysis and environmental foot printing, and (iv) translating policy agendas (e.g., NHS net-zero policies) into green-dentistry practices and integrating these in educational curricula and continued professional development. It recommends curricular approaches to integrating learning outcomes directed at environmental sustainability and aligning them with global health promotion principles and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and identifies practical steps in the clinical settings—procurement, energy consumption, travel movement, waste disposal, and preventive care—also capable of cutting emissions while not undermining the quality of care. Additionally, the chapter highlights the role of community engagement, research and innovation opportunities, and lifelong learning as agents for systemic change. Together, these elements better prepare both the existing and future dental practitioners to offer high-value lower-carbon care and steward environmental resources as a central part of oral health care.

错误:搜索内容不能为空,请输入英文关键词
错误:关键词超出字数限制,请精简
高级检索

Sustainability in Dental Education

  • Anas Hakimee Ahmad Ubaidillah,
  • Azwatee Abdul Aziz,
  • Nadhirah Ghazali,
  • Petros Mylonas

摘要

Sustainability has become a necessity in the learning and practice of health professionals. Dentistry, marked by the energy-intensive equipment and disposables dependency, chemical agents, and frequent patient movement, shows significant environmental and population health impacts. This chapter places sustainability in dental education by (i) situating oral health care in the midst of the larger challenge of climate change and environmental pollution, (ii) integrating evidence for the ecological effect of common dental practices and dental materials, (iii) outlining assessment tools such as life-cycle analysis and environmental foot printing, and (iv) translating policy agendas (e.g., NHS net-zero policies) into green-dentistry practices and integrating these in educational curricula and continued professional development. It recommends curricular approaches to integrating learning outcomes directed at environmental sustainability and aligning them with global health promotion principles and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and identifies practical steps in the clinical settings—procurement, energy consumption, travel movement, waste disposal, and preventive care—also capable of cutting emissions while not undermining the quality of care. Additionally, the chapter highlights the role of community engagement, research and innovation opportunities, and lifelong learning as agents for systemic change. Together, these elements better prepare both the existing and future dental practitioners to offer high-value lower-carbon care and steward environmental resources as a central part of oral health care.