How often should you go to the dentist? There are many factors that will affect the frequency you visit your dentist. These factors include your current oral health, your individual oral hygiene habits, and general health status, as well as your dentist- and self-assessed risk of developing oral health problems.
How Often Should You Go To The Dentist
Why Is It Important To Have Regular Dental Appointments?
You are proud of your oral hygiene. You brush your teeth regularly and floss as often as you can. You might wonder if your excellent oral hygiene habits mean you still need to see your dentist regularly. Yes! Yes, even if you take good care at the home of your teeth and gums, you should still visit your dentist regularly to have them check for any problems that may be present.
Many dental problems, such as gum disease, cavities, and oral cancer, don’t cause visible pain or become more serious until they have advanced. This makes it difficult to provide treatment and follow-up. Even if your health is good, the risk of developing the dental disease may increase over time. This can be due to factors such as illness, changes in diet, medication use, and other factors. Why take the chance?
Assessing Your Risk For Dental Disease
You should take into account your personal health, lifestyle, as well as genetic factors when assessing your risk of developing dental disease. Poor oral hygiene, a diet high on sugar and refined carbs, excessive drinking, use of tobacco products and heavy alcohol, as well as medical conditions such as Sjogren’s Syndrome and head and neck cancers, are all risk factors.
Dentist in Berkeley offers an online risk assessment tool, that can help you assess your risk for oral cancer, tooth decay, gum disease, and other conditions. This tool will ask you questions about your family, current health, and lifestyle. Your answers will be analyzed to determine your oral health risk score. Your results can be printed and shared with your dentist. They can use them to help you create a personalized oral health plan, recall visits scheduled, and incorporate those scores into their clinical exam.
Scheduled Visits
Although the evidence isn’t clear on the optimal time for routine dental examinations, it has been recommended in the U.S. for many years. People at lower risk of developing oral diseases may visit the dentist less often, while others might need to see them more frequently.
The frequency you visit a dentist will depend on how much of your dental insurance coverage. Your dental insurance policy will cover two annual oral health exams. However, this will vary depending on the individual dental insurance plan. Even if your mouth appears to be in good health, it is still important to have a professional cleaning done and a checkup every year to make sure everything is on track.
Other Considerations
These are other factors to think about when you’re deciding how often you should visit a dentist.
- Changes to dental health
Are there any recent changes in your dental health that you are aware of? You should be aware of any changes in your dental health, such as chipped, cracked, or shifting teeth, bleeding gums, or persistent tooth pain. If any of these situations occur, make sure you visit your dentist.
- Maintenance & dental work
If you have dental work such as a filling or crown, you may need to return to your dentist for follow-up appointments to make sure that your gums and teeth are healing properly. This involves a brief evaluation by your dentist and allows you to ask any questions about the dental work. You may require more frequent visits if you have active gum disease (gum) or other conditions. These appointments can be scheduled every 2-6 months
- Children’s dental visits
Children should have their first dental exam by the time their first baby tooth is in, or before their first birthday. Your dentist may recommend that dental exams be performed every six to twelve months.
- Dental visits for adults
Adults have a different recommendations for how often they should be checked. According to most studies, regular attendees are those who visit the dentist at least once per year. Your oral health and whether you have any dental problems or are susceptible to them will determine how often you visit the dentist. Individuals will have different experiences with staining and plaque buildup. Some people may need to visit the dentist more often if their teeth are more susceptible to staining and calculus buildup.
People with dental insurance visit the dentist more often than people without it. Companies with wellness programs often offer incentives to employees to take certain steps in order preventive health issues. Preventing disease can save both the company and the employee money.
High-risk Groups
These groups might need to visit the dentist more often since oral health problems are more common in them:
- Smokers
- Women who are pregnant
- People with certain medical conditions, such as diabetes, Sjogren’s syndrome, head or neck cancers, HIV/AIDS and others, may be eligible
- Current gum disease sufferers
- People who have a low immune response to bacterial infections
- Plaque-forming and cavities are more common in people who have a tendency to develop them.
- Dry mouth sufferers
- Senior adults
Conclusion
No matter how good or bad your oral health is, it’s important to visit the dentist regularly. It is a reasonable goal to see the dentist at least once per year for an oral health exam. However, some evidence suggests that people at low risk of developing the disease may need to go twice a year. For more information about how your dentist assesses your risk of developing oral disease, and their recommendations for your individual exam and cleaning schedule, consult your dentist.
