Sustainability and Social Responsibility

Sustainability and Social Responsibility

Our core values are integrity, excellence and care, but you might ask to whom?

Our team and our patients are our central focus but equally important to us are:

  • our local community in Blackwood and the surrounding Adelaide Hills areas; and
  • our environment and the planet.

 

Autism Friendly Dentistry

We are an Autism friendly environment accommodating the specific needs for quality dental care to the Autistic Community in Adelaide.

Several of our staff members have family members who are autistic. As a practice we recognise that the dental environment can be an overwhelming space for neurodiverse people with specific sensory needs. Through our own experience of treating our family and neurodiverse patients in the Mitcham Hills area, we realised that we can provide an inclusive environment to autistic people by tailoring our environment to reduce anxiety, consider sensory loads, and provide specific accommodations to make dental care as equitable and stress free as possible.

Shepherds Hill Dental Centre is proud to have partnered with Autism SA to be certified as an Autism friendly dental practice:

Our autism-inclusive practices include:

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  • Autism aware staff
  • Clear, organised spaces
  • No hairdryers used
  • No wait sessions, in car park check-in
  • Quiet times
  • Sensory tools available: virtual reality headsets, ear muffs, weighted blankets, fidget toys
  • Wide passage or walkways

We recognise that the experience of Autistic people are never the same, so please contact our practice on (08) 8278 6858 on how we can best cater for your specific needs during your appointment with us.

 

Green Dentistry

Recycling Oral Care products

Green dentistry - a dentist that recycles oral care products
You don’t have to be a patient! Any member of the local community is welcome to drop in their Oral care products to be recycled.

As a commitment to zero waste and to minimise our impact on the environment we are a dental practice that has been a part of the Terracycle Colgate Oral Care Brigade since 2018 and so far we have recycled over 60kg  toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes!

Anyone from the local community (you don’t have to be a patient) is welcome to drop their dental products in our recycle bins free of charge at the front and rear entrances of our practice.

We donate all proceeds from our recycling program to a local primary school, Blackwood Primary.

WEco-friendly dentistry Adelaide dentist accepts dental waste to be recycledhat can be recycled?

We accept any brand of:

  • Empty floss containers
  • Cardboard packaging from toothpaste & toothbrushes
  • Used toothbrushes, wisps and interdental brushes
  • Empty toothpaste tubes and pumps
  • Electric toothbrush heads

Environmentally conscious dental practice

At Shepherds Hill Dental Centre we practice our value of care for our environment every day through:

Clean Energy

Solar at Shepherds Hill Dental
Solar power is just one of the ways we care for our planet.
  • Clean renewable energy from solar panels powers us while we work
  • We’ve produced over 65MWh of solar energy since 2018
  • We’ve saved over 40,000 kg of CO2 through solar
  • We are an all-electric dental practice
  • Our electricity retailer is certified Carbon Neutral

Energy saving:

  • Efficient LED lighting
  • Low power electronic devices

Sustainable Practices:

  • We use amalgam-free fillings
  • We use Digital x-rays which use significantly less radiation exposure than traditional x-rays, and don’t require processing chemicals
  • We are aiming to be a paperless office and in this process are decreasing our use of paper.
  • We separate not-soiled compostable items like paper towels, and send them for composting in the council FOGO bin.
  • Dentistry is traditionally a large contributor of the single-use plastic problem. We are consciously reducing this in places where it doesn’t compromise our strict sterilisation and infection control procedures. For those materials we do use, we are recycling as much as possible.

Active Transport:

  • Cycling is a big part of life in Blackwood and Belair so we’ve provided two bike loops at the front of the practice for easy and safe bike storage during your appointment.

Want to find out more? Talk to us about what we do at your next appointment.

Modern technologies – good for the patients and our planet

Dental technologies - Blackwood dentist
Dr Tharaka with the Primescan 3D scanner – making life easier for patients and reducing our waste.

We invest in the latest dental technology. This allows us to provide treatment that is quicker, more accurate, and more comfortable for our patients.

Our Primescan digital 3D scanner allows us to scan teeth with incredible accuracy and speed. In many cases it eliminates the need for those uncomfortable and much-hated impressions that also contain alginate or silicones. Technology such as our scanner is a WIN-WIN for our patients and our planet as it is FAR more pleasant for patients, and at the same time, results in less waste. It also reduces the amount of courier transports we need to do to move traditional impression materials to laboratories.

This technology can be used for tooth whitening trays, night guards and of course, when we do crowns, bridges and implants.

Want to find out more about our technologies? Ask us about our 3D scanner at your next appointment.

Dental Volunteering

Caring dentist who donates time to volunteeringWe take part in dental volunteering programs to give back to the community.

Charity begins at work and this is a big part of our value of care.

We have registered with the Australian Dental Association (ADA) Health Foundation’s:

  • Rebuilding Smiles program which provides oral health care to the victims of domestic violence
  • Dental Rescue Day where we treat homeless and other disadvantaged patients who are without access to dental care.

Supporting our local communityIndependent dentists locally owned who support their community

As a local business we love Blackwood and our surrounding suburbs. We are independently owned and operated by dentists that also live locally, with the majority of our team also local residents.

Where possible we use and support local businesses and we are a proud sponsor of The Blackwood Community Buzz.

Adelaide dentist who gives back to the communityWithin our local community we perform dental education talks at our local schools, childcare centres and retirement homes.

Our child dental talks give us a great opportunity to help the younger members of our community about the importance of caring for your dental health, how to do this and educating them on topics such as good, bad and ‘sometimes’ food.

Contact us

We find many patients are looking for a dentist who shares their environmental or community values.

Call our friendly reception team on (08) 8278 6858 or book your appointment online.

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