IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i12p9508-d1170227.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Green Dental Environmentalism among Students and Dentists in Greece

Author

Listed:
  • Maria Antoniadou

    (Department of Dentistry, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 115 27 Athens, Greece)

  • Georgios Chrysochoou

    (Department of Dentistry, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 115 27 Athens, Greece)

  • Rafael Tzanetopoulos

    (Department of Dentistry, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 115 27 Athens, Greece)

  • Elena Riza

    (Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology & Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 115 27 Athens, Greece)

Abstract

Ηuman sustainability in dental enterprises, as in every workplace, is connected to air and water quality, eco-friendly and naturally designed working spaces, and the culture of the 4Rs. The purpose of this study was to assess pro-environmental behavior, as well as knowledge of preferences for circular economies and green building construction, among a sample of dental students and dentists in Greece. We further assessed the factors influencing their choices. Students (N1 = 93) and dentists (N2 = 126) filled in e-questionnaires from April to December 2022. The data revealed that both students and dentists lack knowledge about the circular economy (N1 = 67.74%, N2 = 68.25%), EU regulations on amalgam disposal (N1 = 64.51%, N2 = 58.73%), and plastic recycling (N1 = 76.34%, N2 = 76.98%); meanwhile, they do recycle at home (N1 = 80.64%, N2 = 82.54%) and have participated in voluntary environmental initiatives (N1 = 58.06%, N2 = 66.66%). Gender influences the importance of factors related to green dental practices, with women students being more likely to agree that increased costs for network changes ( p = 0.02) and poor wastewater management ( p = 0.01) are significant. Students from urban areas are more likely to give positive answers to questions related to the lack of state financial support ( p = 0.02), low levels of green design in buildings ( p = 0.03), the negligible direct financial benefits of green dental offices ( p = 0.04), the negligible reputational benefits of green dental offices ( p = 0.02), and the lack of continuing education training seminars on green dentistry ( p = 0.05). For dentists, no significant relationships were observed, except for a weak positive relationship for the increases in costs due to changes related to utility networks ( p = 0.08), while increases in waste energy ( p = 0.12) and the waste of dental materials ( p = 0.19) seemed significant only for dentists in urban areas. Women dentists were more likely to answer positively regarding wasting energy ( p = 0.024) and the use of unapproved disinfection products ( p = 0.036). The findings contribute ideas and solutions for green dental practice buildings and sustainable behaviors through educational activities and regarding the social aspects of factors such as age, experience in dentistry, gender, and urbanism. This study also provides a basis for future multi-disciplinary research on dental quality assurance, the psychology of environmentalism, economics, and behavioral science in dentistry.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Antoniadou & Georgios Chrysochoou & Rafael Tzanetopoulos & Elena Riza, 2023. "Green Dental Environmentalism among Students and Dentists in Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-24, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:12:p:9508-:d:1170227
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/12/9508/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/12/9508/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chandler Van Schaack & Todd BenDor, 2011. "A comparative study of green building in urban and transitioning rural North Carolina," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(8), pages 1125-1147, December.
    2. Farrow, Katherine & Grolleau, Gilles & Ibanez, Lisette, 2017. "Social Norms and Pro-environmental Behavior: A Review of the Evidence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 1-13.
    3. Wenyao Zhang & Ruzhi Xu & Yuan Jiang & Wei Zhang, 2021. "How Environmental Knowledge Management Promotes Employee Green Behavior: An Empirical Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-15, April.
    4. Sunali S. Khanna & Prita A. Dhaimade, 2019. "Green dentistry: a systematic review of ecological dental practices," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 21(6), pages 2599-2618, December.
    5. Elisabeth Gsottbauer & Jeroen Bergh, 2011. "Environmental Policy Theory Given Bounded Rationality and Other-regarding Preferences," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 49(2), pages 263-304, June.
    6. Dimosthenis Kotsopoulos, 2022. "Organizational Energy Conservation Matters in the Anthropocene," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-30, November.
    7. Xiaoli Zhou & Chengcai Tang & Xingyang Lv & Bo Xing, 2020. "Visitor Engagement, Relationship Quality, and Environmentally Responsible Behavior," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-17, February.
    8. Bon-Gang Hwang & Ming Shan & Helena Phua & Seokho Chi, 2017. "An Exploratory Analysis of Risks in Green Residential Building Construction Projects: The Case of Singapore," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-21, June.
    9. Ma, Chunbo & Rogers, Abbie A. & Kragt, Marit E. & Zhang, Fan & Polyakov, Maksym & Gibson, Fiona & Chalak, Morteza & Pandit, Ram & Tapsuwan, Sorada, 2015. "Consumers’ willingness to pay for renewable energy: A meta-regression analysis," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 93-109.
    10. Xiaohuan Xie & Yi Lu & Zhonghua Gou, 2017. "Green Building Pro-Environment Behaviors: Are Green Users Also Green Buyers?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-13, September.
    11. Farrow, Katherine & Grolleau, Gilles & Ibanez, Lisette, 2017. "Social Norms and Pro-environmental Behavior: A Review of the Evidence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 1-13.
    12. Ioannis Tzoutzas & Helena C. Maltezou & Nikolaos Barmparesos & Panagiotis Tasios & Chrysanthi Efthymiou & Margarita Niki Assimakopoulos & Maria Tseroni & Rengina Vorou & Fotios Tzermpos & Maria Antoni, 2021. "Indoor Air Quality Evaluation Using Mechanical Ventilation and Portable Air Purifiers in an Academic Dentistry Clinic during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Greece," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-12, August.
    13. Hong Tian & Xinyu Liu, 2022. "Pro-Environmental Behavior Research: Theoretical Progress and Future Directions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-16, May.
    14. Xiaodong Yang & Jiayu Zhang & Xianbo Zhao, 2018. "Factors Affecting Green Residential Building Development: Social Network Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-21, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hong Tian & Xinyu Liu, 2022. "Pro-Environmental Behavior Research: Theoretical Progress and Future Directions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-16, May.
    2. Chiara Franco & Claudia Ghisetti, 2022. "What shapes the “value-action” gap? The role of time perception reconsidered," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 39(3), pages 1023-1053, October.
    3. Luisa Corrado & Andrea Fazio & Alessandra Pelloni, 2020. "Pro-environmental attitudes, local environmental conditions and recycling behavior," Working Paper series 20-21, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis, revised Nov 2021.
    4. Bartels, Lara & Kesternich, Martin, 2022. "Motivate the crowd or crowd- them out? The impact of local government spending on the voluntary provision of a green public good," ZEW Discussion Papers 22-040, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    5. Grolleau, Gilles & Ibanez, Lisette & Mzoughi, Naoufel, 2020. "Moral judgment of environmental harm caused by a single versus multiple wrongdoers: A survey experiment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    6. Ming, Yaxin & Deng, Huixin & Wu, Xiaoyue, 2022. "The negative effect of air pollution on people's pro-environmental behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 72-87.
    7. Maccarrone, Giovanni & Marini, Marco A. & Tarola, Ornella, 2023. "Shop Until You Drop: the Unexpected Effects of Anticonsumerism and Environmentalism," FEEM Working Papers 330384, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    8. Karoline Gamma & Robert Mai & Moritz Loock, 2020. "The Double-Edged Sword of Ethical Nudges: Does Inducing Hypocrisy Help or Hinder the Adoption of Pro-environmental Behaviors?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 351-373, January.
    9. Falk, Armin & Boneva, Teodora & Chopra, Felix, 2021. "Fighting Climate Change: the Role of Norms, Preferences, and Moral Values," CEPR Discussion Papers 16343, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Phu Nguyen-Van & Anne Stenger & Tuyen Tiet, 2021. "Social incentive factors in interventions promoting sustainable behaviors: A meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(12), pages 1-27, December.
    11. Carolin V. Zorell, 2020. "Nudges, Norms, or Just Contagion? A Theory on Influences on the Practice of (Non-)Sustainable Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-21, December.
    12. Castro-Santa, Juana & Drews, Stefan & Bergh, Jeroen van den, 2023. "Nudging low-carbon consumption through advertising and social norms," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    13. Mircea Cătălin Dîrțu & Oara Prundeanu, 2023. "Narcissism and Pro-Environmental Behaviors: The Mediating Role of Self-Monitoring, Environmental Control and Attitudes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-16, January.
    14. Jana Eßer & Manuel Frondel & Stephan Sommer, 2023. "Soziale Normen und der Emissionsausgleich bei Flügen: Evidenz für deutsche Haushalte [Social Norms and Flight Emission Offsets: Evidence for German Households]," AStA Wirtschafts- und Sozialstatistisches Archiv, Springer;Deutsche Statistische Gesellschaft - German Statistical Society, vol. 17(1), pages 71-99, March.
    15. Gkargkavouzi, Anastasia & Halkos, George & Matsiori, Steriani, 2019. "How do motives and knowledge relate to intention to perform environmental behavior? Assessing the mediating role of constraints," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 1-1.
    16. Alper Ozpinar, 2023. "A Hyper-Integrated Mobility as a Service (MaaS) to Gamification and Carbon Market Enterprise Architecture Framework for Sustainable Environment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-22, March.
    17. Welsch, Heinz, 2021. "How climate-friendly behavior relates to moral identity and identity-protective cognition: Evidence from the European social surveys," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    18. Leonhard K. Lades & Kate Laffan & Till O. Weber, 2020. "Do economic preferences predict pro-environmental behaviour?," Working Papers 202003, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    19. Chen, Shihua & Chen, Yulin & Jebran, Khalil, 2021. "Trust and corporate social responsibility: From expected utility and social normative perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 518-530.
    20. Coisnon, Thomas & Rousselière, Damien & Rousselière, Samira, 2018. "Information on biodiversity and environmental behaviors: a European study of individual and institutional drivers to adopt sustainable gardening practices," Working Papers 272611, Institut National de la recherche Agronomique (INRA), Departement Sciences Sociales, Agriculture et Alimentation, Espace et Environnement (SAE2).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:12:p:9508-:d:1170227. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.