Mercury-Free Fillings:
At Acreview Dental Clinic, we use only
mercury-free alternative materials to
restore your teeth. Although it is still
quite controversial, some studies have
shown that mercury metal fillings can be
detrimental to your health. Therefore,
we have chosen to only offer the
mercury-free, environmentally friendly
alternative to our patients.
Mercury
Amalgam Separator:
Even though we do not place mercury
fillings, patients often ask us to
remove their metal fillings and replace
them with a mercury-free filling
material. As a result, our office uses a
Mercury Amalgam Separator which prevents
mercury from being released into the
wastewater that leaves our office. This
is not yet mandatory for dental offices
in the Comox Valley, but we find that it
is an important environmental practice.
Digital
X-Rays:
Digital radiography (digital x-ray) is
the latest technology used to take
dental x-rays. This technique uses an
electronic sensor (instead of plastic
x-ray film) to capture and store the
digital image on a computer. This image
can be instantly viewed and enlarged
helping the dentist and dental hygienist
detect problems easier.
By switching to digital, it eliminates
the need for the environmentally
harmful, toxic chemicals associated with
film processing, and reduces waste
overall.
Steam-based Instrument Sterilization:
At Acreview Dental Clinic we use the
LISA Class B and StatIM 2000, hospital
grade, steam-based sterilizers. Use of
steam-based, surgical-grade instrument
sterilization promotes healthful indoor
air quality by eliminating the need for
toxic chemicals used in chemical-based
sterilizers, and reduces water use.
Reduce,
Reuse, Recycle:
Our office maintains a recycling program
where we not only recycle paper and
plastics, but ink cartridges, batteries,
cardboard, empty dental solution bottles
and more.
When possible, we submit insurance
claims by Internet transmission, thus
reducing our paper consumption and
conserving our forests.
Environmentally Friendly Products:
At Acreview Dental Clinic we use a
variety of ‘green’ products. We use
biodegradable cleaning solutions for our
dental instruments, 100% biodegradable
garbage bags throughout the office, and
our disposable paper-products are from
Eco-Soft and are made of 100% recycled
wastepaper.
OPTIM Surface Disinfectant is used in
our opratories, which disinfects against
a broad spectrum of organisms without
noxious fumes or skin irritations. It
eliminates the need for wasteful plastic
patient barriers and is biodegradable,
which means it is gentle on the planet.
