Sustainability in dental education

Ahmad Ubaidillah, Anas Hakimee, Abdul Aziz, Azwatee, Ghazali, Nadhirah and Mylonas, Petros 2025. Sustainability in dental education. Rahman, Mohammad Tariqur and Abu Kassim, Noor Lide, eds. Handbook of Dental Education Technology, Singapore: Springer, (10.1007/978-981-97-0275-6_33-1)

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Abstract

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.

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Dentistry
Publisher:	Springer
ISBN:	9789819702756
Last Modified:	23 Jan 2026 12:17
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/184146

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