At Tooth Dental we believe that dentistry shouldn’t ‘cost the Earth’.  In 2015 when Dr Lou set up Tooth Dental, she wanted to make the practice as ECO Friendly as possible.

Our eco ethos doesn’t affect our high standard of dentistry, strict infection control procedures or patient care, it simply means that at each stage we have considered how we could reduce our carbon foot print from the reception, tea room, the surgeries, sterilisation room and even the bathroom!

Our aim is to reuse, recycle and reduce our waste, water and energy as much as possible.

Reception and patient lounge:

• We use LED lighting were possible.
• We aim to be paperless and opt out of paper correspondence wherever possible. All our medical history forms are conveniently completed on an ipad, saving time and paper
• We recycle all our toners and batteries at appropriate facilities.
• Any professional printing is done on recycled paper or stock card (but we’d still prefer to just email)

The tea room:

• Our staff created a policy for no disposable coffee cups, water bottles and takeaway containers. We love our keep cups!
• We have a comprehensive recycling system. All food waste is placed in our Bokashi bin and then used to fertilise our plants and gardens. All cardboard, plastic and bottles are separated and recycled. We are working really hard to minimise what goes into our general waste

In the Surgery:

• Dentistry is traditionally a large contributor to single-use plastic. We use reusable instruments and materials wherever possible. If it can be autoclaved, we use it!
• We don’t offer amalgam fillings, all our composite resin fillings are free from Bisphenol A (BPA)
• We said no to paper/ plastic cups! Our patient cups are all stainless steel and are autoclavable.
• We use digital radiographs, eliminating the need for film and disposing of hazardous developing chemical. Plus reducing radiation exposure for patients.
• Our patient packs are no longer in paper bags, we said goodbye to patient brochures and simplified the pack.
• We offer great ECO and biodegradable alternatives to traditional oral care products (Eco Floss, Bamboo tooth brushes and tooth paste tablets)
• We use autoclavable microfibre cloths in the sterilising room, rather than paper towel or single use microfibre towel

In The bathroom:

• We use cotton hand towels in our bathroom, these are washed and line dried.
• Our toilet paper is 100% recycled by Who Gives a Crap

Things we are working on changing:

• Changing all of our lab impressions to a digital scanner, reducing impression material, packaging and transport.

We are continuously looking at new and improved ways to reduce our footprint, if you have any suggestions, we’d love to hear them!

Oral Care Product Recycling

We are a proud collector for the Terracycle Colgate Oral Care Brigade. We encourage all patients to bring their used oral care products to their next appointment. Anyone from the local community (you don’t have to be a patient) is welcome to drop their dental products in our recycle bin free of charge. We have even got some of our local Kindy’s involved helping us collect products!

We donate all proceeds from our recycling program to a children’s charity, The Starlight Foundation.

What can be recycled?

Any brand of:

• Empty floss containers
• Cardboard packaging from toothpaste & toothbrushes
• Empty toothpaste tubes and pumps
• Electric toothbrush heads