Assessing the Environmental Footprint of Dental Materials: A Scoping Review on Pollution and Sustainability

Introduction Our scoping review intends to investigate the impact of dental material waste (DMW) on environmental pollution throughout its lifecycle (production, use, and disposal). Methods A systematic literature search was conducted across four databases from inception till April 15, 2025. The primary outcomes of this review were to examine the contribution of DMW to environmental pollution by generating a quantitative summary of the amount of material waste produced by dental facilities and its associated pollution indicator. Results A total of 2808 records were retrieved, of which only 41 studies were included. 60.98% of the included studies were cross-sectional, 19.52% experimental, and the remaining 19.5% were life cycle assessments, comparative study designs, and one case study. Quantitative summary demonstrated dental amalgams to be a major polluter, and mercury was the primary pollutant. The environmental impact was most significant in the case of water contamination, followed by soil contamination. All the material wastes were found to breach safer concentration limits with mercury being most potent in air, water and soil [mercury = 2.3 mg/L to 261 mg/L (water), 0.094 mg/m 3 to 102.7 g/m 3 (air), 0.3 g/d to 82.3 g/d (soil)]. Conclusion The significant contributor to environmental pollution was dental amalgams, from their production to their disposal.