4 Types of Waste Your Dental Practice Must Dispose of Properly

Just like physician’s offices and other medical facilities, dental practices generate certain types of medical waste on a daily basis. This waste must be stored, managed and disposed of properly and in accordance with local, state and federal regulations. There are 4 main categories of dental waste that dental offices generate, take a look:

Amalgam Waste

Commonly referred to as silver fillings, dental amalgam is a substance that has been used for over a century in millions of patients to fill cavities. It’s made up of several different substances, including liquid mercury and a powdered alloy of silver, tin and copper. The waste generated from this material comes in many forms, and must be disposed of properly to ensure your practice is in compliance and keeping patients, staff and visitors safe. Some of the amalgam waste includes:

• Amalgam scrap
• Chair-side trap filters containing amalgam
• Vacuum pump filters containing amalgam
• injectors used in procedures with amalgam
• Extracted teeth with amalgam fillings
• Used amalgam capsules
• Waste items that have been contaminated with amalgam

Biohazardous & Hazardous Waste

During dental procedures and treatments, there are several types of bio hazardous and hazardous waste that can be generated. Whether it’s blood soaked items like gauze, gloves, cotton balls, teeth that have been extracted and others, it’s crucial to dispose of them properly.

Sharps, Needles and Other Similar Items

Sharps are commonly used in dental practices to administer Novocain and other medications to assist in procedures and treatments. The staff at dental practices must dispose of used sharps in an FDA approved sharps container. These containers must never be overfilled and must of picked up and disposed of by a licensed medical waste disposal company.

Pharmaceutical Waste

Unused, unwanted or expired medications must be treated as medical waste and therefore should be discarded within compliance guidelines. Staff at dental offices need to be aware of regulations and follow protocols for proper disposal—including not flushing pharmaceuticals or throwing them away in the regular trash.

Ensuring you dispose of all medical waste generated in your dental practices is key to staying compliant and protecting patients, staff and visitors. All Points Medical Waste provides full service medical waste disposal to dentists throughout the South Florida. Give us a call or fill out this form to get more information.