Dental Visits Every Six Months?
There’s no disputing the fact that Preventative Dental Care helps patients avoid tooth loss, and that’s the real name of the game here. Preventative Dental Care includes, regular tooth brushing, regular dental visits and dental cleanings and dental exams.
Research the topic of the importance of the six-month dental checkup and dental cleaning online, and it’s not hard to find testimonials from people declaring that they’ve only visited the dentist every other year or so, that they’ve never had a cavity, and so on.
It’s true. Some people are lucky. Everybody is different, and everybody’s set of teeth is different, as well. Dentists have been recommending that patients come in every six months, as a general rule of thumb, since the 18th century.
Some patients can ‘get away’ with less frequent visits, and some should actually see us a little more frequently. It’s a matter of genetics, and it’s a matter of personal hygiene habits.
Even for our patients who brush and floss regularly, it’s important to get the teeth cleaned every six months, because even the most careful brushers can experience a buildup of tartar on their teeth. Tartar is a hardened form of the sticky bacteria that can form on your teeth between brushings: You don’t want it in your mouth. It’s unsightly and can eventually lead to Gum Disease in some cases. Tartar aka calculus is formed when bacterial plaques in the mouth mix with calcium deposits from saliva, forming rock-hard precipitates. These “rock-hard” precipitates need to be scrapped of by a dental hygienist and cannot be removed with a tooth brush or dental floss. Calculus left on teeth will after 2-3 months, eat away at the gums and get down below the gum line and begin to eat away at tooth supporting bone. Eventually, a perfectly good tooth can become loose and need to be removed. Bone loss in this fashion is what we call gum disease or periodontal disease. It is more than about teeth, but also overall health, as any bacterium getting below the gum line will leak into your blood supply and may cause other health problems (the biggest example is cardiovascular disease or heart disease).
Again, though—prevention is really what we’re after when we send you a gentle reminder via email or text every six months. The sooner we spot a potential issue, the better. The more tooth or gum decay we prevent, the less work we have to do on your mouth. If the conditions are wrong, it can take as little as six months to get a cavity. At your six month visit we will find any cavities and have them fixed with conservative fillings. The longer cavities persist in teeth the bigger they get, and yes-more damaging to your tooth, more painful, more expensive…
While you’ll hear some people say they can get away with skipping visits to the Dentist, trust us when we say we’re a little more used to seeing people that shouldn’t have skipped that visit to the Dentist. Possibly, they’re just a little less vocal about it.
Seriously, though. Regular trips to the Dentist usually means that your Dentist is able to prevent potential tooth damage issues. To put it another way, regular trips to the dentist inevitably mean patients need fewer procedures and have to spend less money on dental work. It analogous to automobile oil changes…if you don’t do it something terrible may happen like your engine will seize-up and die, leaving you on the side of the road and out thousands of dollars. You get my drift.
Dental Visits Every Six Months? Yes! If you live in Rockville, find a dentist near Rockville to get a routine cleaning.