There are so may activities that tale place in a dental office. X-rays, cleaning, and filling of root canals and crowns are some of the activities that takes place here. Following all these activities, there are many hazardous wastes that requires proper Pharmaceutical Waste Disposal. When these hazardous wastes are not properly managed, they can be harmful to the patients and even to the environment. The following are some of the ways to handle different dental wastes.
Among the most harmful dental wastes are the amalgam. The reason is that they contain high levels of mercury. These mercury wastes should be sent to the recycler as soon as possible. The work surface should have containment to avoid the mercury spills from entering the sewer. It is generally improper to keep amalgam in the main waste bag. Wastes containing mercury should be collected following a safety procedure and also kept in a tightly closed Container. There are traps and filters meant for limiting the ,amount if amalgam spilling out in the sewer. Many health facilities are now using the amalgam separator technology. Scientific research has it that these procedures for removing amalgam are very effective. Know more at this website https://www.britannica.com/technology/solid-waste-management about waste management.
X -rays dental wastes are known to have high amount of silver. Following this, you should avoid washing them down the drain. Instead, the silver can be salvaged in an in-house recovery unit. Also, you can let a biomedical disposer to collect the wastes. Nowadays, there are digital imaging equipment that any practices are now utilizing to avoid the challenges of disposing off silver contained x-ray wastes.
There are dental wastes that containing high amount of lead. The x-ray packets and aprons contain lead foils which are very harmful to water bodies and soil when disposed to the landfills. For this reason, it is important to let the harmful wastes disposal company to manage the lead containing wastes. The blood-soaked gauze are other types of dental wastes that should be managed properly. These wastes should be packaged in puncture-resistant disposal containers. It is essential to label the disposal bags with a universal biohazard symbol. Read more about Amalgam Recycling here.
With the sharp dental wastes, there should be containers with clear labels and also leak-proof. The containers should be placed In a clearly visible place and reachable for the individual using the sharps. They should also not be kept in places where there is high traffic, under a sink or next to light switches. Since things like disinfectants, sterilizing agents and chemicals are also treated as harmful wastes because they can also have a bad effect on the environment. For the proper management of dental wastes in the dental office, you can request your biomedical waste provider to guide you.
