Prophylaxis (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what prophylaxis is and its function in the medical field. Also, what are dental, antibiotic and social prophylaxis.

What is prophylaxis?

Prophylaxis, especially in the medical field, It is the set of preventive actions whose purpose is to prolong good health and delay disease instead of just waiting for it to appear and then healing it. That is, they are carried out in a healthy person. Thus, prophylactic measures are those that serve to “maintain” the body, that is, they delay or even prevent the appearance of diseases.

This word comes from Greek prophylaxiscomposed of the voices pro (“before”), phylax (“guardian”) and the suffix –sis (denoting action). So it can be understood as that which prevents, that which protects us from evil or an unwanted consequence. Hence condoms are called prophylactic (or “condoms”, that is, they preserve us), since they protect us from diseases or unwanted pregnancies.

The term prophylaxis is mostly used in the health sciences (medicine, dentistry, public health, etc.), as a synonym for preventive medicine, that is, medicine that is not concerned with repairing damage and curing diseases, as much as preventing each other, usually through hygiene measures, health administration and epidemiological management.

This is of vital importance not only in preserving people's health, but also allows to prevent or stop epidemics early.

It is also possible to use the word prophylaxis in other areas, even some as different as chess jargon: chess players speak of “prophylactic moves” to refer to those whose objective is not only to improve one's own position on the board, but also to prevent or prevent possible attacks from the rival, or prevent him from improving his position in it.

Dental prophylaxis

In dentistry, we speak of prophylaxis to refer to the set of hygiene and medical prevention measures that allow us to keep our teeth and gums healthy delaying the onset of diseases and postponing more invasive and complex medical procedures. The idea, as in the rest of medical sciences, is that prevention is always better than cure.

Dental prophylaxis, fundamentally, consists of correct oral hygiene that is, in daily brushing after each meal, the use of dental floss or interdental brushes, as well as rinses and other aids in the fight against bacterial plaque and tartar. To this we must add the annual visit to the dentist, to perform a deeper cleaning and check that no ailment or disease is in progress.

Antibiotic prophylaxis

In the medical field, antibiotic prophylaxis is also used to refer to the use of antibiotic substances to prevent the appearance of infections after a medical intervention has been performed or some type of trauma has been suffered. That is, we talk about use of antibiotics not to cure an existing disease, but to prevent its appearance.

Its use It is very common in postoperative conditions given that, although sterile environments and tools are used during surgery, it is possible that some pathogenic microorganism has entered the body during the time the tissues were open. Thus, the administration of antibiotics guarantees that no microbial agent causes accidental infection.

The concept of social prophylaxis comes from legal and political sciences, and originally referred to the set of measures taken by public powers and State agencies to prevent or control epidemics and infectious outbreaks in a community, especially those that have to to do with venereal diseases, which due to their nature and the taboo of sex, used to go unnoticed and be more difficult to detect.