How To Celebrate Earth Day From A Dental Professional
When you think about Earth Day, we understand you probably don’t automatically think about your dental office! Every year on April 22nd is another opportunity to find new and creative ways to protect our beautiful planet. At Floss Dental Boutique we wanted to provide you with some healthy dental habits that can also help keep our environmental impact to a minimum.
Turn off your faucet
It is common practice for many to let the water flow while brushing their teeth. This results in more water being wasted than most people would guess. The average bathroom faucet running while brushing your teeth can result in up to 6 gallons per minute being sent down the drain. That’s enough to fill up 2 average bathtubs a week! Think about conservation and only turn the faucet on to rinse your mouth and your toothbrush.
Floss smarter
There is no good way to recycle dental floss, but there are ways we can be smarter about the process. At Floss we stock Cocofloss dental floss and Waterpiks. These products can help protect the Earth in a few ways. Cocofloss uses non-toxic ingredients, and offers refills in compostable packaging to limit single use plastics. Purchasing a Waterpik from our office can prevent the use of traditional dental floss, provide a more thorough cleaning, and help minimize how many empty floss containers end up in a landfill.
Toothbrush Tips
Discarded toothbrushes make a significant contribution to global plastic pollution, and some may think this is an unpreventable consequence. While brushing is necessary, there are things that can be done to do your part in plastic reduction. First, you can consider a toothbrush made from sustainable products. This seems like an obvious option, however, some don’t feel that natural products can perform to the same standard as plastic, disposable versions. Your Floss professionals can point you in the right direction if this option is a route you decide to go. We can also provide recommendations for bamboo products, plant-based floss picks, and other sustainable options.
Using proper brushing technique and pressure can also help by preventing premature wear and disposal of your toothbrush, as well as contribute to healthier gums and enamel. An electric toothbrush has technology to provide feedback on proper pressure and brush time. These brushes also utilize smaller replaceable heads that are only a fraction of the full toothbrush size.
Lastly, consider re-purposing your old toothbrush. Once a brush becomes ineffective to brush your teeth it is still acceptable for use as a cleaning aid. Old brushes make great bathroom scrubbers, grease removers, laundry stain tools, and grout cleaners!
Tubes vs Tablets
There have been recent developments in toothpaste design geared around creating a more natural and sustainable version. We are very supportive of reducing the single-use, metal lined, non-recyclable tubes of standard toothpaste. In the United States, roughly 400 million toothpaste tubes are thrown away each year. Because of this, some of you may be wondering our thoughts about the new “tablet toothpastes”. We have evaluated several of the top brands and here’s what we have found. While most of them proudly tout their natural ingredient list, we at Floss Dental Boutique highly recommend fluoride so check the label closely. Xylitol, activated charcoal, and hydroxyapatite are all beneficial components as well, but we see fluoride as a must! It is important to note, we did find a drawback to the tablet alternative. The gritty, slightly medicinal texture of currently available options will take a bit of getting used to. We will keep you posted on the further evolution of these eco-friendly options.
If we all can take even small steps, our collective efforts can provide a large result and keep this planet habitable for us and our children for generations to come. We look forward to seeing you at your next appointment and please contact us with any oral health questions you might have.
