Visiting your dentist for a checkup and cleaning appointment regularly is just as important as practicing excellent oral hygiene at home. But, how often should your teeth be cleaned by your dentist? You may have heard of the “six-month-rule”, does that apply to everyone? Not necessarily – in fact, if you’re prone to bacteria and infections, your dentist may recommend that you have your teeth professionally cleaned more often. However, if you have good oral hygiene habits and an overall healthy mouth, you can probably plan to schedule two appointments each year.
The Importance Of Dental Cleanings
There are three parts to preventive dentistry – excellent oral hygiene, regular dentist visits, and maintaining a healthy diet. Preventive dentistry works to avoid oral infections – or anything that can compromise your oral health. However, without one of these components, your teeth can easily become susceptible to bacteria and infection. Not only does your dentist clean your teeth at your regular appointments, but they also examine your mouth (even those hard-to-reach places that you can’t normally see) to ensure that nothing is going to damage your oral health – like tooth decay, gum disease, etc.
Preventing Oral Health Complications
Oral infections are 100% preventable – although a large portion of the population suffer from tooth decay and gum disease each year. However, preventing the bacteria is much easier, more cost-effective, and less time-consuming than treatment would be for an infection in the future.
How Often Should You Visit Your Dentist?
For a patient with gingivitis, your dentist may want to see you every 3-4 months after your initial deep cleaning (scaling and root planing) to ensure that the bacteria doesn’t recur. But, for otherwise healthy patients, you’ll probably be able to stick to bi-annual visits, just make sure not to miss any!
