Do you need a dental checkup every 6 months?

Dental examination every 6 months is a conditionally accepted norm, which patients prefer to adhere to in order to monitor the health of their teeth and prevent the occurrence of diseases in time. The more often you come for checkups, the less often you will spend on treatment in the future.

However, there are still people who are wondering: how often do I need to go to the dentist and why do I need it? Let's analyze the answer to this question in more detail.

Why do I need preventive dental checkups?

Preventive examination is the main way to prevent caries, inflammation and oral health problems. Even with careful dental care at home, plaque remains on the enamel, which eventually turns into tartar, which you may not even notice. This is especially true for lovers of sweets, coffee and carbonated drinks. Toothache is not the first symptom that you have started to develop tartar. This is usually the stage at which caries begins to penetrate into the tooth and touch the nerves, which means that it develops into pulpitis.

Tooth decay is not the only problem you may encounter. Hypersensitivity, inflammation and bleeding of the gums, enamel disorders, painful yellowing, periodontitis are just a few of what can occur in the absence of timely dental intervention.

How is the dental checkup going?

What the doctor does during the dental examination of the patient:

• Learns about the general health of the patient, complaints, medications taken and previous dental procedures;
• Examines the oral cavity for caries, old fillings, and abrasive damage;
• Checks for signs of gum disease: bleeding, swelling, redness, tartar;
• Checks the lining of the oral cavity: the color, condition of the cheeks, lips, tongue, the presence of ulcers, lesions, tumors and a characteristic white plaque;
• Assesses the bite and the presence of problems with the maxillofacial area. May recommend the installation of braces if there are obvious violations;
• Performs professional dental cleaning if desired by the patient. During cleaning, the doctor removes plaque and tartar, which helps prevent further development of caries;
• Provides recommendations and tips for improving oral care, including proper dental cleaning techniques, the use of dental floss, mouthwash.

If specific problems are identified, the doctor may perform additional procedures. If the patient is wearing braces, a facelift and correction may be required.

A dental examination of a patient is not a treatment. If there is nothing wrong with your teeth, no additional intervention is required. The doctor will only examine your teeth and mouth and give recommendations for further care. If there are problems, he will assign the appropriate procedures.

Patients mistakenly believe that they need to seek dental help only during pronounced pain and obviously unpleasant symptoms: dry mouth, stone formation, progressive caries, bleeding. In fact, if a person had visited a doctor periodically as a preventive measure, he would not have encountered these symptoms. Moreover, he would have saved the budget and spent less on subsequent procedures.

If there are indications, you can consult a dentist earlier than six months later. For example, if a patient smokes or has a bad heredity, the doctor should be visited more often. The most important thing in this matter is regularity.