Investigation on the characteristics and management of dental waste in Urmia, Iran

The objective of this study was to identify the
components, composition, generation rate and management
of dental waste in Urmia, Iran. Fifteen dental centers
including eight general dental offices, five specialist dental
offices and two dental clinics were selected and two samples
were taken from each office. Then, the wastes were
manually separated in 31 components and weighted. The
results showed that total dental waste generation in all
general dental offices, specialist dental offices and dental
clinics were 58.94, 17.92 and 10.22 kg/day, respectively.
Domestic, potentially infectious, toxic and chemical and
pharmaceutical waste also constituted 35.46, 34.24, 11.83
and 5.56 % of total waste, respectively. Only 11 components
including blood-contaminated paper towel, salivacontaminated
paper towel, saliva-contaminated cotton,
extracted teeth, blood-contaminated gauze, inseparable
components, nylon glove, tongue blade, latex glove, saliva
ejector and blood-contaminated cotton constituted more
than 80 % of total infectious waste generation. There was
no management program (waste minimization, separation,
reuse and recycling) in the dental offices. Source reduction,
separation, reuse and recycling activities should be conducted
to decrease the hazards of dental wastes. It is also
suggested that each fraction of dental waste should be
separately collected and disposed in the accordance with its
related criteria