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INTRODUCTION
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were presented in the United Nations (UN) in 2015, by encouraging all countries to adopt a set of 17 goals targeted to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all. Sustainable development is becoming increasingly important due to environmental concerns.1 Climate change is caused by human actions that produce greenhouse gases, leading to rising temperatures, heat waves, fires, droughts, and warming waters.2 The healthcare sector is committed to providing safe and effective care.3 Health and dental care providers prioritize efficiency over sustainability, leading to the production of a lot of waste and carbon dioxide emissions.4
Dental practices discard millions of sterilization pouches, chair barriers, and light handle covers annually. Gloves, masks, suction tips, saliva ejectors, needles, and paper as other disposables are difficult to breakdown.5 360 gallons of water waste each day, production of 4.8 million lead foils, 28 million liters of poisonous X-ray fixer, and 3.7 tons of mercury waste annually. Farahani and Suchak pioneered eco-friendly dentistry in 2007. His recommendations have been heavily used in subsequent studies.5 The World Federation of Dentistry (FDI) called for sustainable techniques in oral health care to safeguard service delivery and foster green economy.6
Since the idea of “green dentistry” is novel, only a few studies have explored dentists' knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) in order to learn more about what they know, believe, and engage in.7 However, these studies are not unidirectional and cover various aspects of KAP of dentists with regards to sustainable dental practices. Compiling and analyzing existing KAP literature is essential to identify gaps and guide future research efforts. KAP questionnaires can be used to inform further research. Literature review was identified as the most effective method. This literature review aims to summarize the knowledge and attitudes of dentists regarding sustainable dental practices, their attitude towards this shift, and their steps to adhere to an eco-friendly dental approach.
METHODS
Literature search Design: Literature search and review development was conducted from March 2022 to June 2022 using PubMed, Google Scholar and Web of Science databases using Keywords: such as knowledge, attitude, practice, green dentistry, ecofriendly dentistry, and sustainable dentistry. Every individual search term was supplemented with relevant free text terms. When appropriate, the free text terms have been...