"There′s plenty of room at the bottom": The biomedical waste management in dentistry

Inappropriate and inadequate handling of biomedical waste may have serious public health consequences and a significant impact on the environment. It is necessary to manage infectious materials to prevent or reduce exposure of persons and the environment to potentially harmful bio-waste. Dental clinics generate a number of biomedical wastes, including the materials such as scrap amalgam, photochemical waste (developer and fixer), lead foil from traditional X-ray packets, blood-soaked materials, human tissue, and disinfectants, which are challenging to the environment. Wise handling and disposing them is critical. Sound management of biomedical waste is thus a crucial component of environmental health protection. The purpose of this article is to discuss about various types of biomedical waste produced in the dentistry, different waste management practices, the hazards of indiscriminate disposal of biomedical waste and to create awareness among the dental profession, regarding minimizing the production of biomedical waste and dentists are encouraged to follow the best management practices, while disposing hazardous wastes.