The new pro-environmental dentistry, on the road to sustainability

doi:10.15406/jdhodt.2025.16.00637

Journal of

eISSN: 2373-4345

Dental Health, Oral Disorders & Therapy

Short Communication Volume 16 Issue 1

The new pro-environmental dentistry, on the road to sustainability

Jesús Rivas- Gutiérrez, María Dolores Carlos- Sánchez

Academic Unit of Dentistry, Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Mexico

Correspondence: Jesús Rivas-Gutiérrez, Academic Unit of Dentistry, Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Mexico

Received: March 10, 2025 | Published: March 31, 2025

Citation: Rivas-Gutiérrez J, Carlos-Sánchez MD. The new pro-environmental dentistry, on the road to sustainability. J Dent Health Oral Disord Ther. 2025;16(1):26-27. DOI: 10.15406/jdhodt.2025.16.00637

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Abstract

Currently the planet is already in a critical situation that endangers the health and life of all living beings, the behaviors and actions that citizens perform daily have led to a level of environmental pollution that in many aspects is no longer reversible, for this reason the dental education and profession must begin to think and work under a new paradigm, that of sustainability and thus be able to contribute from this field to the recovery and global and sustainable development economically, environmentally and socially speaking; the achievement of professional, economic and social success of a dental student and later a professional when entering the labor market today depends a lot on the culture and pro-environmental awareness acquired during their transit through the schools.

Keywords: pollution, education, sustainability

Introduction

Educational processes gradually build and cement what we know as conscience, this situation tells us or points out what is right or wrong, what should be done or what should not be done at the expense of being able to suffer in some cases a sanction or penalty pre-established implicitly or explicitly by the same society or some of the authorities that are part of it; For the case at hand, which is the generation of dental education within the context of sustainability, we can begin by pointing out that in many Schools and Faculties of Dentistry, the often indiscriminate use of disposable products, antimicrobial substances as part of clinical treatments, antiseptic substances for cleaning, the abuse and waste of water and energy, among other things, is predetermined by three guidelines, the first of which is how much environmental education we have received, the second is how much pro-environmental awareness we have, and the third is the self-recognition of the harmful effects that are occurring with the pollution that is generated daily. Culturally, most people consider the concept of sustainability as something that refers exclusively to the rational consumption of a product that is friendly and respectful of nature in the sense that it is not harmful to it, however the term sustainability is more than that, it implies an integrality that not only includes the environment exclusively, it goes further, it is a way of thinking and acting that entails an attitude of connection with any social and economic challenge and with a perspective towards economic, environmental and social development.¹ Fully understanding this situation implies understanding the problems and the consequences that the critical situation regarding environmental pollution is bringing, it involves starting to change our consumption patterns, if we want to be a sustainable society we must generate services and consumption oriented towards sustainability; our current model of economic and social development is no longer compatible with the reality we are living and threatens life itself.

In a global ranking of the countries and regions with the highest pollution based on the average annual PM2.5 concentration (μg/m³), in 2024 Mexico has the not-so-honorable 55th place among the 138 most polluted countries, with the first place being held by the Republic of Chad located in Central Africa (World Air Quality, IQAir, 2024). This pollution situation in Mexico has a long history, since since 2006 the total emission of GHG had increased by 30% from 2002 to 2024, being that in the latter year 553 million tons of CO₂were released into the environment , which places it in first place among Latin American countries, followed by Brazil with 377 tons, Argentina with 162 tons and Venezuela with 152 tons, making Mexico the country that releases the most GHG into the atmosphere, thereby substantially altering the climate worldwide.²

Development

Under this situation, education has long been called upon to play a fundamental and important role and function in the fight against environmental pollution, since it develops the ability to learn and consequently generates a more pro-environmental individual and collective culture. In other words, education makes the subject a man and at the same time a citizen and prepares him to live and coexist in society, thinking and reasoning for himself. Seen in this way, education is not a pure and neutral process, since through and by means of it, ideals, values and other moral qualities are acquired, useful for work and social coexistence in a given historical time. Therefore, the most general purpose of any type of education is to transmit a set of values and practices that are important for the functioning of the individual and of society. These characteristics or qualities include reflection, creativity and invention, a situation which achieves a double purpose in the citizen, in society and in culture, the purpose of permanence and change.³ From the perspective of the theory of reproduction,⁴ the generation of new experiences, consequence of a new way and style of life more in line with the new demands of today's world, is not a simple thing, it implies and requires for it to occur and reproduce, the generation of conditions and institutional actions so that the person understands and moves towards new attitudes, for this reason the practices, actions and explanations that are given of the ways of seeing, understanding, acting and living dentistry through the educational processes that are generated in schools and faculties will leave an indelible mark on the student as part of the dental culture of " should be" and later of " being" in the graduates as professionals of stomatological health.

From this perspective, caring for the environment, its care and conservation must currently be a fundamental part of the philosophy of dental education, where each teacher and student must be aware of it, so that their actions have a pro-environmental context. Currently, unfortunately, there are few educational institutions that train professional human resources in dentistry that educate and work under the new concept known as sustainable dentistry, a notion that in education is called curricular environmentalization, which is nothing other than contextualizing the entire educational process under the vision of working in harmony and care with the environment, under the perspective of sustainable development. This situation intends to generate in the student a new professional culture of the importance of the environment for the good development of individuals and the preservation and care of oral health, so that when they graduate they reflect this awareness in their daily dental practices and, in turn, transmit it by educating their patients under this new vision.⁵ It has not been long since it began to be recognized that globally we are a predatory world society through consumption and we base practically all of our human and social relationships around it, in other words, from the moment we are born we begin to consume indirectly or directly, the economic, social and professional success or failure of a dental professional is based on the logic of consumption, " how much can I buy, how many can buy my services or my products ", this situation in this circumstance has become the axis of our life and reason for being. Currently, as several sociologists have suggested, we no longer consume just to live, we do it to identify ourselves and be accepted by a specific social group, to compensate for deficiencies not only vital but also emotional, we do it to have status in front of others, in short, to be more than others, today we consumers are the main promoters of the same product we consume, which is why we have at the same time the need to be in symbiosis with the other party who are the generators of goods and services; Until the middle of the 20th century, products were produced or generated to satisfy needs; today, needs are created that are only satisfied with certain products. Caring for our planet is everyone's job, since we have all contributed in one way or another to its deterioration, which in many situations is irreversible. This new trend in sustainable dentistry involves assuming co-responsibility (along with the manufacturer and distributor) for the use, handling, deactivation, storage, and disposal of all materials used in educational institutions, hospitals, and private practices.⁶ In addition, environmentalization processes and the new orientation towards sustainability that must contextualize dentistry must include awareness of how we use the services offered to us by municipal, state, federal and private authorities, such as mainly drinking water, electricity, garbage collection among other services that require the consumption of large quantities of fossil fuels in order to be able to offer them, fuel that when burned mainly generates enormous emissions of carbon dioxide, which when emitted into the atmosphere and in unfavorable climatic conditions generates greater pollution and the greenhouse effect.

Conclusion

This invitation to reflection is not intended to convert the dental community into a non-consumerist field, rather, the intention is to generate awareness about what we do and how we do it and to understand that if we look we can find less polluting and more sustainable supply and consumption alternatives, the understanding, acceptance and consequently the application and use of the three " R " is essential to begin to be a sustainable profession, REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE This is the way forward; if we also add REPAIR and REDISTRIBUTE what is wasted, we will be even more efficient and effective. Let's think about this and therefore make dentistry a more environmentally friendly profession and one that is friendlier to our future. This doesn't mean we're inviting a return to an irresponsible dentistry approach to contamination and cross-infection. The invitation is to be more culturally and environmentally responsible, without neglecting or disregarding the well-being and health of the patient and all medical personnel who provide dental services. We must use alternatives, actions, and products that are as non-polluting as possible to keep the office, equipment, instruments, and environment impeccably clean, disinfected, and sterilized, along with the use of specific protective barriers. This must be a culture and practice that is always present in the field of sustainable dentistry above all else.