The scientifically proven most effective way to achieve a healthy mouth and smile is education and prevention - specifically primordial and primary prevention. Primordial prevention is stopping people developing risk factors before disease starts. Primary prevention is to correct risk factors that have developed before disease starts. When primary prevention hasn't been successful and bone has been lost there's a shift to secondary and tertiary prevention. The aim of secondary prevention is to stop disease recurring after treatment and the aim of tertiary prevention is to stop the complications of the disease, like, for example, tooth loss.​