It is impossible to imagine modern dentistry without prophylaxis. It includes all measures that contribute to the prevention and early detection of factors that are detrimental to oral and dental health. Rehabilitation and aftercare help to halt diseases and maintain therapeutic successes. It is important here that, as far as possible, the population as a whole benefits from prevention efforts.
Oral biofilm, consisting of an impressive variety of germs, is impossible to avoid as a causative agent of caries, gingivitis (inflammation of the gums) and periodontitis (inflammation of the periodontium). Therefore, prophylactic measures are aimed at influencing cofactors such as the quality of dental hard substances as well as nutrition and the temporal exposure to bacterial noxae in order to limit the growth of pathogenic (disease-causing) germs in the “biotope” oral cavity.
However, these measures require not only an understanding of the causal relationships, but also the will of the patient to work intensively on maintaining his or her own oral and dental health throughout his or her life. This is because the majority of prophylactic measures do not take place in the dental practice, but must inevitably be carried out on a daily basis in the bathroom at home.
The consistent joint efforts of the dentist, the dental prophylaxis team and, last but not least, the patients themselves ensure that lifelong oral and dental health does not have to be a vision, but becomes a matter of course.
The most important prophylaxis services are presented below.
