News

Chances are you won't win any praise from

your dentist for having green teeth - unless you

have a dentist like Ali Fara-hani.

At his Front Street Dental office in Stratford, Ont., Dr. Farahani uses cotton bibs instead of paper ones. Instead of disposable paper cups, he offers patients reusable ceramic mugs.

The toothpastes and mouthwashes he uses are all natural, and the materials he embeds in patients' mouths are made of porcelain or other alternatives to potentially toxic metals.

Anything to minimize his impact on the environment.

"[Traditionally, dentistry is] indeed very wasteful, and the reason why society generally doesn't think of it as such is because it's not spewing sludge and smoke," Dr. Farahani said. "But what you don't see is really what adds up."

A typical dental practice, he said, goes through thousands of plastic and paper wrappers to sterilize its tools, tens of thousands of gallons of potable water and dozens of bottles of toxic X-ray developer solution each year.

And in a study he conducted last year with a University of Waterloo student, he said he found that dental offices with conventional oral vacuums each use the equivalent of nearly one million 500-litre bottles of clean water a year. In comparison, dry vacuums, which he uses, require no water at all.

But as the green dentistry movement takes off in North America and Europe, a growing number of dentists like Dr. Farahani are adopting aggressive measures to reduce their environmental footprint in all aspects of their businesses.

Generally, green dentistry tackles waste and pollution in three main areas, according to Ina Pockrass of the Eco-Dentistry Association, a Berkeley, Calif.-based industry group that she founded this year with her husband, dentist Fred Pockrass.

The first area involves dental processes and materials, like installing a filtration system that captures and prevents old mercury fillings from polluting the water. The second involves office administration, like using recycled office paper or switching to digital charts and bills. And the third targets the construction and furnishings of the office itself, by using non-toxic paints and sustainable flooring materials.

Pioneers of green dentistry in the United States, the Pockrasses opened their eco-friendly office, Transcendentist, about five years ago.

The office uses a steam system instead of chemicals to sterilize dental tools and a digital imaging system instead of X-rays, which eliminates the need for lead foils and chemical developers and fixers. It also emphasizes its use of biocompatible, or non-toxic, dental materials, and offers toothbrushes made from recycled yogurt containers.

In the beginning, people were skeptical about their business, Ms. Pockrass said. "Investors, banks and even some of our dental colleagues thought we were a little bit on the fringe. But we believed there was a market for these services and that it would be a growing market, and our business has been spectacularly successful."

The emergence of a consumer market focused on health and sustainable living is largely responsible for the rise of green dentistry, Ms. Pockrass said.

Green dentistry's cousin, holistic dentistry, has received a boost in recent years amid debate over the safety of substances used in fillings and sealants, like mercury and Bisphenol A.

Similarly, green dentistry is also touted as being gentler on patients as well as the planet, since it reduces their exposure to harsh chemicals and potentially toxic materials used in traditional practice.

Christine Gingerich, a patient of Dr. Farahani who suffers from allergies, said she could immediately feel the absence of chemical disinfectants at his office.

"I immediately knew when I walked into his office that it felt well," she said.

The eco-consciences of dentists themselves are also big drivers of green dentistry's growth.

Peter Walford, who operates a mobile dental clinic on Hornby Island, B.C., said he was motivated to create an eco-friendly practice by his love of nature.

Dentistry can take a leadership role in saving the planet, since dentists operate as independent entrepreneurs and aren't bound by the regulations and bureaucracy of health authorities and hospitals, Dr. Walford said.

As a bonus, he said, "Every time I have made a move for improving the greenness of the practice, I've also saved money."

That hasn't yet been the case for Dr. Farahani, who estimated he spent an extra $75,000 to open a green dental office last year but doesn't charge patients a premium. The initial cost of going green is a huge deterrent for most dentists, he said.

Others are reluctant to take what they perceive to be extreme measures.

North Vancouver dentist Lila Nabi operates a near-paperless office at Town Centre Dental Office, and incorporates many eco-friendly technologies in her practice. But there are some things, such as patient bibs or items that go into patients' mouths, that she would not reuse.

"There's a fine line between going green and eco-friendly and being sanitary," she said. "I definitely, as a patient, wouldn't want a cloth bib on myself."

Dr. Farahani, however, believes it is only a matter of time before these green measures become the norm.

By using cotton bibs, which are sterilized since they double as reusable wrappers for his instruments, he estimates he saves close to 30,000 pieces of paper a year.

"If you thought about in one neighbourhood, in one city, how much landfill we're saving just by using this alternative, it's mind boggling. And that's just one city," Dr. Farahani said. "That's when you quickly realize how wasteful dentistry is."