Article
Primum non nocere – first do no harm, is one of the fundamental principles of any healthcare provision. In orthodontics we have the possibilities of doing harm to our patients almost on a visit by visit basis and it takes significant effort from all concerned parties: the clinicians, the therapists, the nurses, the patients and their parents to minimize this risk.
We are given a timely reminder in this issue by Vanet and co-workers of the fundamental risks all of our patients face on a daily basis – that of developing caries. In part 1 of their series they discuss aetiology, prevalence and prevention and remind us about the need for selecting only those patients for active treatment who can demonstrate a good diet and exemplary oral hygiene. If only the entire profession would stick to this basic philosophy we could significantly reduce iatrogenic disease, which unfortunately is seen in up to three quarters of our patients. This simple measure, along with the appropriate use of supplementary fluoride, could make a massive difference.
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