Digital dental impressions reduce carbon footprint by 66%

Why It Matters

As the healthcare sector faces increasing scrutiny for its environmental footprint, design choices in dental practices can lead to substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. This research provides a quantifiable basis for prioritizing sustainable material and process choices in dental design projects.

Key Finding

Digital dental impressions are significantly more environmentally friendly than traditional analog methods, generating about two-thirds less carbon emissions, mainly by avoiding disposable materials. However, this benefit is maximized when the digital equipment is used frequently.

Key Findings

• The digital impression procedure has an average carbon footprint of approximately 550 g CO2-eq.
• The analog impression procedure has an average carbon footprint of approximately 1620 g CO2-eq.
• The digital method's carbon footprint is nearly threefold lower than the analog method.
• The analog method's higher impact is due to disposable materials and waste requiring incineration.
• The digital method's environmental benefit is contingent on high clinical utilization of the intraoral scanner.

Research Evidence

Aim: To quantify and compare the Global Warming Potential of conventional analog and digital impression techniques for single-tooth crown manufacturing in a dental practice.

Method: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

Procedure: A cradle-to-grave LCA was performed, defining a positive dental model as the functional unit. The assessment focused on material consumption, waste streams, and equipment usage, excluding patient travel and facility energy.

Context: Dental practice, Germany

Design Principle

Minimize material waste and energy consumption through process digitization and efficient resource utilization.

How to Apply

When designing or specifying dental equipment and workflows, conduct a comparative environmental impact assessment, favoring digital solutions that demonstrably reduce waste and emissions, and ensure the design supports high utilization rates.

Limitations

Results are specific to the German energy mix and waste management standards and may vary in different geographical settings. Patient travel and facility energy were excluded.

Student Guide (IB Design Technology)

Simple Explanation: Using digital scanners instead of traditional putty for dental impressions is much better for the environment because it creates less trash and uses fewer disposable items.

Why This Matters: Understanding the environmental impact of different design choices is crucial for creating responsible and sustainable products and systems, especially in fields like healthcare where waste can be significant.

Critical Thinking: How might the 'cradle-to-grave' assessment change if the manufacturing of the intraoral scanner itself, including its energy consumption and material sourcing, were more heavily weighted or if the lifespan of the scanner was significantly shorter?

IA-Ready Paragraph: This research highlights the significant environmental advantages of digital impression techniques in dentistry, showing a nearly threefold reduction in carbon footprint compared to conventional analog methods due to reduced disposable material use and waste generation. This supports the adoption of digital workflows for more sustainable design practices.

Project Tips

• When researching materials, consider their entire lifecycle impact, not just their initial cost or performance.
• Quantify the environmental benefits of your design choices using metrics like carbon footprint or waste reduction.

How to Use in IA

• Use this study to justify the selection of a digital design process over a traditional one, citing the reduced environmental impact as a key benefit.

Examiner Tips

• Demonstrate an understanding of life cycle assessment principles when evaluating the environmental impact of design choices.

Independent Variable: Impression technique (analog vs. digital)

Dependent Variable: Global Warming Potential (carbon footprint)

Controlled Variables: Functional unit (positive dental model), exclusion of patient travel and facility energy, regional context (Germany)

Strengths

• Quantifies environmental impact using a recognized methodology (LCA).
• Direct comparison between two common dental procedures.

Critical Questions

• What is the break-even point for digital scanner utilization to offset its manufacturing impact?
• How do different regional energy mixes and waste disposal infrastructures affect the comparative environmental footprint?

Extended Essay Application

• An Extended Essay could investigate the lifecycle assessment of other dental technologies or explore strategies to maximize the utilization of digital dental equipment to enhance its sustainability benefits.

Source

Sustainability in Dentistry—Insights into Waste Impacts from a Carbon Footprint Comparison Between Conventional and Digital Impression Techniques · Waste · 2026 · 10.3390/waste4010005