Primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention are well-known terms, including in dentistry: Primary prevention begins before a disease develops and aims to prevent it from occurring in the first place. Secondary prevention begins in the early stages of a disease with the goal of preventing its progression or becoming chronic. Finally, tertiary prevention takes place after acute treatment or the manifestation of a disease with the goal of preventing secondary damage or relapses.

Less well-known is quaternary prevention: The goal is to prevent unnecessary medical interventions and overmedication according to the principle of “primum non nocere.”

Providing benefits and avoiding harm—with today’s capabilities, even in dentistry, this is no magic:
The most important measures are:

• Promoting evidence-based, patient-centered care (e.g., by following guidelines)
• Strengthening patient autonomy through comprehensive education (“communicative medicine”)
• Focusing on quality of life rather than on maximum intervention

Highlights:

• Benefits and risks of the most important measures in home-based prevention—from brushing to fluoride
• Benefits and risks of the most important measures in professional prevention—from scaling to powder-water jet devices?
• Individualized/“personalized” approach—what do I do for whom, when, and how often?
• Prevention from the perspective of ethical, ecological, and economic sustainability (conservation of resources, cost reduction…)