GAP Australasian-Dentist Issue 80 Jul-Aug 19

Category 138 AustrÀlÀsiÀn Dentist Jade Richardson Àational Geographic started it. Which is a shame really since of the few remaining sources of trustworthy news, Geographic is surely one of the finest. Àhe world’s most powerful brand in nature, travel and culture journalism doesn’t tend to have that much on offer specifically for the dentally-minded, except when an Àndiana Jones type discovers the fossilized tooth of a megalodon shark, or one of the Pharaoh, Àutankhamun’s molars, say, or primitive examples of dental floss in the last remaining wilds of deepest Mongolia. Àn the main, Àational Geographic’s interest in things dental is more swashbuckling than contemporary, or even scientific. But all of that suddenly changed last June when the prestigious journal ran an article titled, HOW YO ÀOOÀHB H BÀCAMÀ PAÀ OF ÀHÀ PÀA C C . Àn capital letters! Just like that. Àhe story could be expected to have been seen in print and online by millions of people, and gave this stark news: “A billion toothbrushes will be thrown away in the À.À. this year, most of them plastic.” Àhat’s enough toothbrushes, end on end, to wrap around the planet four times! And that’s only what’s coming out of American mouths and straight into the trash in one year. And what’s more, most toothbrushes ever made are out there somewhere, and will be for at least 400 years more! Àhe article goes on to say that almost every single plastic toothbrush ever made, and being made, used and tossed out today and ever more will never leave the ecosystem. Àhat’s going to be a very big problem. Which is going to get discussed more and more in the press. And which presents the dental industry with an interesting dilemma. Globally, it is estimated that around 3.5 billion plastic brushes are made a year, and 23 billion trashed in a market worth more than $2billion in America alone. Which does not include more than 100 million electric toothbrushes and their part in the waste stream, or the massive numbers made under the radar in China, or sold as overnight disposables. People are beginning to find toothbrushes floating about in the ocean on their holidays to Bali. People are beginning to find them washed up on the shores in countries everywhere. And Àational Geographic, and others, are starting to take notice, and to ask the questions; “How did we get here? And can we change?” Àhis is a terrible turn of public relations events for the plastic toothbrush, even the ones that dentists prefer, which only recently enjoyed the incredible prestige of being rated higher than cars, computers, and even cellphones, as the one thing that consumers couldn’t live without. Àhe evolutionary wonder of an original Chinese design made Àea ty BÀteÀ How dentists accidentally became part of the end of the world. Jade Richardson explores how dentists are about to be drawn into the planet crisis conversation and what we can do about it. from bristles shaved from the neck of a hog and set in wood or cow bone, the modern plastic toothbrush, with all its fancy ridges, fades, ergonomics, hard to reach superpowers, minty delights, smile magic, rings of confidence and fresh breath genius is one of the darlings of every home, every morning, every where on earth. Àhe human love story with the plastic toothbrush is one of the most intimate and codependent in all history. Àn 2019 there are more being made than ever before, while a 100 years ago only one in four people ever owned a toothbrush in America. Àow we live on a planet where tooth care and twice- daily brushing is basically considered a human right for rich, poor, young, old and some pets as well. But the cost of this story is that these days plastic bags, straws and containers are no longer alone on the sad trail of litter polluting the world’s beaches, oceans, landfill and litter trails. Àhe usual suspects are being joined more and more, everywhere, by plastic toothbrushes which could soon be loudly targeted in the ever-escalating public outrage about plastic pollution, and in bans and fines and other protective actions by governments everywhere. Àn Hawaii beach clean ups, the journal reports, it is not uncommon for rubbish scouts to pick up 100 toothbrushes a day. And the problem is going to get worse, says Geographic because the total number of plastic toothbrushes being produced and thrown