Can AI help dental practices cut their carbon footprint?

Dental Tribune International

Fri. 16. January 2026

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DUBLIN, Ireland: Sustainability is now widely recognised as a core responsibility in dentistry, although translating this into measurable action remains challenging. Many dental teams want to reduce their environmental impact, but lack the time or expertise to measure it meaningfully. A new approach by researchers in the UK using artificial intelligence (AI) suggests that a widely available tool could help bridge this gap.

The diffusion of AI throughout the fabric of everyday life over the last few years has been astonishing, exemplified by its most salient representative, ChatGPT. This platform has begun to influence many areas of dentistry, such as how the public seeks information about oral health and its emerging role in dental education and training.

Dental practices contribute to carbon emissions through energy use, travel, procurement and waste, yet few clinicians routinely quantify this impact. Carbon calculators are often spreadsheet-based, and they can be accurate but are not always user-friendly, particularly for busy practices without sustainability training. As a result, engagement with carbon measurement has remained limited.

The current study sought to explore whether ChatGPT could be used to inform the sustainability practices of dental clinics. By using carefully structured prompts, the conversational AI tool was guided to collect basic practice data and estimate annual carbon emissions across key categories, such as staff and patient travel, energy, waste, water and procurement. The outputs were then compared with those generated by a validated Excel-based emissions calculator to assess reliability and usefulness.

The findings suggest that structured prompting is critical. When asked vague questions, the AI produced general sustainability advice with little relevance to the individual practice. However, when provided with clear questions, predefined emission factors and trusted reference material, the estimates closely aligned with those from the Excel calculator. The AI was also able to generate tailored recommendations that linked emissions hot spots to practical actions, such as reducing travel emissions, improving waste segregation and addressing energy efficiency.

For dental clinicians, the main value lies not in absolute precision but in accessibility. An AI-based approach lowers the barrier to entry, allowing practices to gain a rapid overview of where their greatest environmental impacts lie. This can support informed decision-making, team engagement and prioritisation of sustainability efforts without the need for specialist software or consultancy input.

There are, however, important limitations. Emission factors are region-specific and need adaptation to the practice location, and AI tools can still produce errors if prompts are poorly designed. Clinicians should therefore view AI-generated footprints as indicative rather than definitive.

Overall, this approach highlights how a familiar digital tool could support climate action in dentistry. With appropriate guidance and critical use, AI may help make sustainability a more routine part of everyday clinical practice rather than an added burden.

The article, titled “Prompt-driven ChatGPT carbon calculator for dental practices: Estimation and tailored improvement strategies”, was published online in the February 2026 issue of the International Dental Journal.