Teeth Cleaning: Every Three or Four Months or Every Six Months?
Dr. Furber – 31 Dec 2009

Everyone who has a dentist knows that they are expected to keep regularly scheduled appointments to give the dentist the opportunity to keep tabs on their dental health and to intervene whenever necessary to prevent problems. Most of us were taught as we were growing up that the appropriate amount of time between dental visits should be six months; keep two equally spaced appointments a year and the dentist will take care of the rest. But more modern insight and information has led dental experts to revise that timeline. Today it is recommended that patients consider booking three or even four dental checkups each year.

Studies show that more frequent maintenance is needed as harmful pathogens or bacteria do their work and proliferate or return after a treatment within as few as nine or ten weeks. This is less than three months’ time.

If this happens and you are only scheduled to see the dentist every six months, those problems and infections may get a head start of three to four months. And by the time the dentist has a chance to discover the pathogens, they may have already done considerable damage to teeth and gums. In some extreme cases the harmful bacteria may have moved through the bloodstream and invaded other parts of the body.

Despite the fact than some horrible pathogens work double-time and rapidly colonize the mouth with bacteria that can potentially wreak havoc on oral hygiene, there is no need to panic. Dentists know the basic schedule of pathogens. They also know how to schedule your dental checkups so that you, not the unwanted infections, have a head start.

This becomes especially important in situations where a patient has experienced gum disease and received periodontal therapy to return their gums back to their original healthy state. Periodontal pathogens are some of the worst infectious bacteria because they move quickly to damage gums. They create conditions that encourage harmful plaque build-up and instigate conditions such as receding gum lines.

So if you have received gum treatment, your dentist will probably encourage you to make extra appointments at intervals of three to four months instead of every six months. In that way your healing and recovery can be monitored while keeping a close and vigilant eye on potential problem areas.

Periodontal maintenance is one of the pillars of good oral health and hygiene. In other words, it is very important to follow any treatment program for gum disease. Skipping or delaying follow-up appointments can lead to outbreaks or reoccurrences that can set your dental health back significantly. With the guidance and help of your dentist, you will know how frequently your appointments should be scheduled to prevent issues such as recurring infections, bone loss, tooth decay or gum inflammation.

When you increase the number of visits to your dentist's office you are also increasing the probability that your oral hygiene will remain vibrant and robust. So, consider switching from six-month intervals to three- or four-month intervals.