SDCEP has developed sustainability resources to support reducing nitrous oxide waste in dental sedation. The resources include information about the environmental impact of nitrous oxide emissions, practical advice for managing nitrous oxide stock and its use, and tools for reviewing supply versus clinical use. An excel spreadsheet-based sedation logbook incorporating automatic calculation of nitrous oxide use is provided and can also be used for recording other types of sedation.
All members of the dental sedation team involved in the provision of inhalation sedation, whether their roles are in the management of nitrous oxide supply, equipment set-up or delivery of sedation, should be aware of the environmental impact of nitrous oxide and can contribute to mitigating waste.
The resources can be accessed within the Sustainability topic of the Practice Support Manual (PSM). Although the PSM is primarily targeted at primary care practices, the resources also have relevance for the PDS and hospital settings.