Dental Student Works to Reduce Dental-Related Waste

Each year in the United States, more than 1 billion plastic toothbrushes are thrown away, according to the American Dental Association. When Rodrick Wiggins, a student at the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston, considered the environmental implications of so much discarded plastic, he knew he needed to act. Wiggins reached out to TerraCycle, a company that handles difficult-to-recycle products, to see if he could enlist its help in recycling the many toothbrushes, toothpastes, and floss containers discarded every day at the university and its dental clinic. While COVID-19 impeded the initiation of the oral hygiene recycling program, it is now back on track, and Wiggins is considering the creation of a biodegradable toothbrush to improve the environmental friendliness of dentistry and oral hygiene. Click here to read more.