Aspects Regarding Sustainability among Private Dental Practitioners from Bucharest, Romania: A Pilot Study

Autor: Ana Maria Cristina Țâncu, Andreea Cristiana Didilescu, Mihaela Pantea, Ruxandra Sfeatcu, Marina Imre
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: Healthcare, Vol 11, Iss 9, p 1326 (2023)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2227-9032
DOI: 10.3390/healthcare11091326
Popis: Oral health professionals’ knowledge of sustainability is essential for promoting environmental protection in dental healthcare. This pilot study involved an online survey addressed to 70 dental private practitioners from Bucharest, Romania, to evaluate their awareness of the concept of sustainability in dentistry. The performed statistical analysis revealed that 41.4% of the participants were well aware of sustainability in dentistry, with older participants demonstrating significantly higher levels of such awareness (p = 0.001). Sustainability awareness among participants correlates positively with their knowledge of the negative environmental impacts of dental activity (p < 0.001) and with the concern for sustainable dentistry implementation in their workplace (p = 0.037). Improper biohazardous waste disposal was identified as the primary cause of negative environmental impact of dental practices by 87.1% of participants. Installing high energy-efficient dental equipment was selected as the most important action to implement sustainability in participants’ dental practices (64.3%). Overall, 51.4% of the participants reported that the COVID-19 pandemic had a medium impact on their dental activity in terms of sustainability. Our study found that participants have a moderate level of awareness regarding sustainability in dentistry, highlighting the need for education on sustainability for oral health professionals.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals