Has it been a while since you saw your hygienist for a dental cleaning? Maybe you’ve got great oral hygiene and there’s hardly any buildup on your teeth during checkups? You may be wondering, “How often do I really need to see my dentist for a checkup?”
Every Six Months
Most people with healthy teeth and gums need to schedule a cleaning and checkup every six months. These preventative care (“prophylaxis”) cleanings help you maintain your dental health from visit to visit, reducing the onset of gum disease and bone loss. But if you do show symptoms of issues like decay or gum infections, we can intervene as early as possible to treat them while they’re small. A six-month recall schedule provides a healthy length of time to intercept new developments without so much time that they can become problematic.
Technically speaking, it only takes about 24 hours for the plaque on your teeth to calcify into tartar buildup. A few months after your professional cleaning you may already be able to see new areas of tartar deposits on certain teeth (particularly those at the bottom front part of your mouth.)
Every 3-4 Months
People who have a history of periodontal disease typically need more frequent cleanings. These maintenance visits are essential for removing buildup from deep pockets and preventing relapse of gum infections. Depending on how your mouth responds from one visit to the next — and what your hygiene routine looks like — we may be able to gradually stretch these visits out further and further apart. It’s typical to need to set an appointment every three months in the very beginning (after your initial deep cleanings/periodontal scaling and root planing.) Some good indicators of how long you can wait between appointments include the presence of swelling, bleeding, tartar buildup, and severity of gum pocketing.
“Can I Wait Longer?”
Occasionally we may tell someone that they don’t need a checkup as soon as what they’re used to. Perhaps we’re only providing an annual exam to evaluate their new dentures, special needs make it extremely difficult to visit the dentist’s office, or the individual has impeccable oral hygiene with rarely a spot of buildup on their teeth. Whatever the story may be, our Long Island dentists will work with you one-on-one to develop a customized recare plan that promotes the best long-term oral health outcome.
“I Just Want a Normal Dental Cleaning”
Maybe it’s been years since you’ve had your teeth cleaned. Unfortunately, that probably means you have some heavy buildup and possibly areas of bone or tissue loss. If that’s the case, we’ll need to perform a separate series of cleanings to help you get your oral health back to where it needs to be. Save the “preventative” cleanings for later!
Are You Due for a Checkup?
If it’s been longer than six months since your last dental cleaning, it’s time to make the call. Contact our Suffolk County multi-specialty general dentistry office to reserve your next checkup. No matter how long it’s been since you’ve seen a dentist, we’ll help you get things back on track.
