Environmental sustainability in endodontics. A life cycle assessment (LCA) of a root canal treatment procedure
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
Environmental sustainability in endodontics. A life cycle assessment (LCA) of a root canal treatment procedure Brett Duane1* , Linnea Borglin2, Stephanie Pekarski2, Sophie Saget3 and Henry Fergus Duncan4
Abstract Background: To analyse via life cycle analysis (LCA) the global resource use and environmental output of the endodontic procedure. Methodology: An LCA was conducted to measure the life cycle of a standard/routine two-visit RCT. The LCA was conducted according to the International Organization of Standardization guidelines; ISO 14040:2006. All clinical elements of an endodontic treatment (RCT) were input into OpenLCA software using process and flows from the ecoinvent database. Travel to and from the dental clinic was not included. Environmental outputs included abiotic depletion, acidification, freshwater ecotoxicity/eutrophication, human toxicity, cancer/non cancer effects, ionizing radiation, global warming, marine eutrophication, ozone depletion, photochemical ozone formation and terrestrial eutrophication. Results: An RCT procedure contributes 4.9 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2 eq) emissions. This is the equivalent of a 30 km drive in a small car. The main 5 contributors were dental clothing followed by surface disinfection (isopropanol), disposable bib (paper and plastic), single-use stainless steel instruments and electricity use. Although this LCA has illustrated the effect endodontic treatment has on the environment, there are a number of limitations that may influence the validity of the results. Conclusions: The endodontic team need to consider how they can reduce the environmental burden of endodontic care. One immediate area of focus might be to consider alternatives to isopropyl alcohol, and look at paper, single use instrument and electricity use. Longer term, research into environmentally-friendly medicaments should continue to investigate the replacement of current cytotoxic gold standards with possible natural alternatives. Minimally invasive regenerative endodontics techniques designed to stimulate repair or regeneration of damaged pulp tissue may also be one way of improving the environmental impact of an RCT. Keywords: Sustainability, Environment, LCA, Life cycle analysis, Endodontics, RCTx, Isopropyl alcohol, Dental gown, Single use instruments
*Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Trinity College Dublin, School of Dentistry Lincoln Place Dublin, IE 2, Dublin D02 F859, Ireland Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
Background Global sustainability is the number one public health issue. A sustainable world must meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs [1]. Currently, the delivery of healthcare is not sustainable. Healthcare systems are harming both the public and the planet with UK healthcare accounting for around 4% of the total national
© The Author(s) 2020. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
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