Prevention Levels

Levels of prevention could be differentiated into four types:¹²

*Primary Prevention*	Avoidance of pathology development.
*Secondary Prevention*	Early diagnosing and treatment of the pathology before significant morbidity occurs.
*Tertiary Prevention*	Reduction of adverse effects and complications of pre-established disease and restoration of function.
*Quaternary Prevention*	Avoidance of the consequences of overtreatment and overmedication for the specific condition.

It is important that us an dentists, dental hygienists, and dental assistants, will act for the benefit of our community and educate them in terms of screening, prevention and treatment of traumatic dental injuries. Just as the dental profession is slowly moving from ‘treating’ established dental caries lesions toward ‘managing’ risk factors for dental caries and prevention of oral diseases, the new challenges of our profession are recognizing high-risk individuals for dental trauma and managing risk factors.¹

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