"Green" Office Policies

 

                                                 

 

At Palmer & Krause Dental, we take a strong position that we do our part to provide a safe environment for our staff,  patients and the community. We try to use the known  technologies and techniques that can help us do this. These include:

Recycling - A simple idea that we have been implementing in our office since 1990. We have a long standing policy of recycling all paper, allowable plastics and metals with local recycling facilities. In recent years, this process has been greatly simplified by allowing curbside recycling and we encourage all who are interested in participating and making recycling part of their household routines.

Computerization - Although some forms are still on paper, a vast majority of our accounting, dental insurance submissions, patient records and X-rays are now digital, which saves tremendously on the use of paper and ink .   Digital X-ray imaging, eliminates the need for X-ray processing chemicals, keeping these regulated products out of the waste stream entirely .

Amalgam Policy - Since 2002, we have decided to no longer place dental amalgam, commonly called " silver filling". This was done arising out of concerns of the state and various health organizations worldwide about this older technology filling material which, in its unset form contains elemental mercury. We feel that there are very safe, viable alternatives to dental amalgams today and these are what we offer. See our amalgam policy on our website, under the patient information tab menu.

All existing older filling materials that do require replacement are updated to a newer type of restoration, and we comply with all state and federal regulations in the proper disposal of any regulated waste in a safe and responsible manner.

Mechanical systems - We have invested in having our office lighting, climate control and water usage systems evaluated to help with the decrease usage of electricity and water.