The need for regular exams and cleanings is vital for the maintenance of your oral hygiene. It helps ensure the health of your gums and teeth in the long term. While there is no one-size-fits-all rule, meaning there is no specified number of times to visit your dentist recommended by the American Dental Association, so your dental visits are determined by several factors. Your present oral health condition, individual oral hygiene habits, general state of health, and personal-assessed or dentist-assessed risk for oral health problems are all factors to consider.Our individual oral health needs vary and directly impact our need to visit the dentist. Your primary focus should be to determine a dental visit schedule that ensures your level of oral health is always at its best.
Why should I evaluate my risk of oral disease?
By periodically assessing your risk for oral disease, you can best monitor, identify, or determine your level of susceptibility to the dental disease that certain factors may pose to your oral health. The factors to be evaluated are:
Smoking – Cigarette or tobacco smokers are more likely to develop gum disease, tooth decay, and oral cancer.
Diet – Foods like refined carbohydrates and a high-sugar diet increase oral health risks.
Pregnant women – Hormonal changes can increase your risk of tooth decay, oral infection, tooth sensitivity, and gum inflammation during pregnancy.
Cancer patients – Chemotherapy treatment can make you susceptible to infection, jaw stiffness, and dry mouth.
Genetics – Certain inherent factors and lifestyle habits may predispose you to develop dental diseases.
Factors to consider include hygiene, fluoride deficiency, tobacco use, excessive alcohol or recreational drug use, medical conditions, and head and neck cancer.
Diabetes increases your risk of gum disease, other oral health issues, and fungal infections.
To determine your risk of oral disease, ask your dentist for information and professional recommendations for cleaning and examination schedules.
When should I schedule a visit to my dentist between checkups?
As a general rule, visit your dentist every six months. Do you have good oral health that has remained stable with no problems? If so, a checkup is all you need.
Your dental insurance policy does play a role in determining how often you should see your dentist. Your dental insurance coverage will also affect how often you see a dentist. Usually, your dental insurance plan should cover two visits to the dentist and your oral health checkups.
Besides, if your company has a wellness program plan, it may incentivize you to adopt a preventive health care approach yearly. It could include periodic visits to the dentist. As a precaution, you should get professional cleaning and yearly checkups to ensure your oral health is in shape. undergoing
However, if treating a specific dental health problem, you may need to visit the dentist more frequently for checkups to ensure your oral health. For someone having a cavity filled or a tooth extracted, there is a need to monitor the progress of the treatment. Your dentist will schedule you for more appointments. The visit usually involves a quick evaluation by your dentist and allows you to ask any questions related to the recent dental work.
Have you noticed some changes in your oral health with accompanying pain? Then it is time to book an appointment with your dentist for a visit. Those symptoms add to solid evidence that all is not well and that a more serious oral health problem is causing those symptoms. The symptoms you may experience that impact the frequency of your dental visits are:
- Bleeding or swollen gums
- Cracked or chipped teeth
- Issues with an old dental filling
- Tooth sensitivity of cold or hot
- A sore mouth that isn’t healing
- Build-up a significant amount of plaque and tartar on your teeth
- Experiencing chronic and worsening tooth or gum pain
- Have active periodontal (gum) disease
The first oral examination should be performed on children soon after their first baby teeth appear or within a year of birth. Subsequent dental visits for a child as they grow older are scheduled based on the dentist’s advice, and often the recommendation is for every six months to a year.
Conclusion
While perhaps practicing healthy dental habits and having a consistent history of problem-free oral health. These factors are no reason for you to put off making periodic visits to a dentist for exams and getting their assessment of your oral health.
At R+R Dental, professionals can help you assess, identify, and manage any risk to your oral health.
