How Often Should You Visit the Dentist?

Especially when there’s nothing painful or unusual happening with the teeth, it can be easy to forget about routine dental visits. Of course, you should make an appointment with your dentist if you’re experiencing any pain in your gums or teeth, or if there’s any other noticeable cause for concern, but it’s also important to see your dentist regularly for routine checkups and cleanings. But just how often does that mean, you might ask.

The American Dental Association (ADA) recommends scheduling and attending routine dental exams every six months, while the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends annual dental visits as a baseline for healthy adults. While annual checkups and cleanings might be sufficient for some patients to maintain their oral health, the preferred approach is to see the dentist twice a year, every six months, which gives them optimal opportunity to diagnose and treat any issues as early as possible. In many cases, early intervention can prevent potentially catastrophic oral health effects, so with six-month intervals, there’s a much greater chance of intervening early and preventing long-term, expensive, painful, potentially complex consequences.

These routine dental visits also help prevent the buildup of destructive tartar with professional cleanings. Tartar develops naturally, as plaque on the tooth surfaces calcifies. Plaque is a biofilm made up of saliva, bacteria, digestive acids, and food debris; this sticky paste starts to build up on the teeth within minutes after eating. Regular, effective brushing and flossing can remove most plaque, but it’s normal for some to remain in hard-to-reach places, where it quickly begins to harden and develop into tartar. The only way to remove tartar from the teeth is with a professional dental cleaning, which is an integral part of any routine dental visit and a major contributor to sustained oral health.

Your dentist and dental hygienist are also well equipped to detect any defects or concerns that you might not notice on your own, like very small cavities or early, asymptomatic gum disease. Intercepting such concerns early on can prevent the pain, inconvenience, and cost of treating advanced gum disease or profound tooth decay. What you might not realize, however, is that dental visits can also help support overall health. During routine exams, dentists evaluate for cancers in the head, neck, or mouth, referring to primary practitioners and assisting with early diagnosis, and they are also equipped to discuss the correlations between gum disease and diabetes, heart disease, and other systemic issues.

While some healthy adults might get away with annual dental visits, others might need to see their dentist more frequently than every six months. Some conditions increase the risk of oral health issues and necessitate dental visits every three months. These conditions include existing gum disease or tooth decay or a history of either condition, regular alcohol or tobacco use, certain inflammatory medical conditions like diabetes, weakened immune systems, or pregnancy. Your dentist will review your complete medical history and make recommendations accordingly. Regardless of the time frame your dentist recommends, dental visits are a small but significant investment in your oral health and overall health and should be treated as such. You can do your part by adhering to the recommended routine and remembering that these dental checkups and cleanings could help spare you from a future of discomfort, destruction, inconvenience, and expense.

Related Article: What is Teeth Cleaning?