Impacto ambiental de la odontología. Revisión de la literatura.

Abstract

Environmental impact is any change in the environment, whether positive or negative, resulting from the activities carried out by a person or organization. Although the health system seeks to reduce the rate of disease in the world population, it also causes specific environmental damage. Technological advances, the growth of the medical and dental sector worldwide, and the use of disposable products have contributed to the generation of a large amount of waste, which requires proper collection, treatment, and disposal. There is no specific data in the literature on the contribution of the public and private sectors to the carbon footprint, nor statistical comparisons on waste disposal methods. Therefore, the present review article aims to analyze the most recent literature on the materials that generate an environmental impact in dentistry, in addition to the new methods of waste disposal proposed as an ecological alternative and the impact produced by waste incineration. An electronic search was conducted in PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, SciELO, Redalyc, and Dialnet databases. The age limit was five years in Spanish, English, Portuguese, and German. The search strategy was based on the keywords "environmental impact" and "dentistry."