Cost-Saving Tips for Greener Dental Practices

Making dentistry more environmentally friendly can be as easy as choosing one brand of disposable cups over another. Patients appreciate efforts to protect the environment, and less waste often results in saving money. In fact, eco-friendly practices can even increase overall profit for a dental office. At SB Dental Solutions Dental Billing Company, we would like to assist our clients in running efficient, effective, and ethical practices, and as such, the following sustainable choices could offer a great start:

 Give Out Bamboo Brushes
​Americans discard about one billion plastic toothbrushes worldwide per year. While plastic toothbrushes offer an inexpensive, waterproof, antimicrobial tool for home dental hygiene, plastic pollution also poses a serious threat to the environment. Once discarded, plastic doesn’t biodegrade over time but continues to clog up our landfills, cities, and waterways. A low-cost alternative to plastic, bamboo toothbrushes are tooth-healthy and eco-friendly. Bamboo offers a sturdy, affordable, sustainable material that’s already found in green products from toilet tissue to t-shirts – and now biodegradable toothbrushes.

 Reduce Single-Use Plastics
Purchase reusable, stainless-steel prophy heads, which can be sterilized and reused, instead of disposable ones. Paying more upfront for high-quality reusable supplies instead of regularly replacing cheap single-use attachments, eventually pays for itself. Similarly, always use stainless-steel surgical and endodontic suction tips rather than plastic. Dentists may also switch to recycled and/or recyclable paper products including patient bibs, surgical masks, and disposable cups.
 
 Prevent Pollution
Install secondary filters within your pump and drainage systems to stop heavy metal particles from entering wastewater. These filters reduce about 68% of toxic runoff and can even be used to recover and recycle dental amalgam. In addition to reducing waste and pollution, using recaptured material also decreases the costs, saving dental offices a good deal of money over time.

 For additional cost-effective dental billing and practice tips, call SB Dental Solutions Dental Billing Company today.