Thorough oral hygiene and care is essential if you want to protect your smile, maintain confidence, and avoid the risk of tooth loss later in life. Beyond the cleaning care you provide at home, the helping hand of a dentist is essential. But many of us aren’t visiting as often as we should. Apprehension of the dentist is understandable, but some of us simply don’t realise how often we should be going.
How often the average person should go
The majority of people are likely to only need an appointment with the dentist twice a year. The regular service that they provide in this case is a check-up to ensure that there are no changes that could result in you needing further work, as well as a cleaning. The thorough dental cleaning that professionals offer is different and much more comprehensive that what you can offer at home. It ensures that harmful plaque doesn’t build up that can lead to gum disease, tooth decay, and other serious long-term issues. If you take particularly good care of your teeth, you may not need your twice-a-year cleaning, but you still need to visit at least twice a year for the check-up.
Know your needs
In some cases, you may even need to visit more than twice a year. If your dentist recommends that you set appointments more frequently, it’s wise to trust their judgement. Not maintaining a consistency of care can result in further issues down the line. What’s more, some people fall into certain risk groups that can make it more necessary for them to visit once every three to four months. If you are a smoker, a diabetic, you have gum disease, a weak immune response to bacterial infection, or you are a pregnant woman, you may need to visit your dental practice more frequently. Everyone within these risk groups are more prone to developing issues with their oral health. Your dentist is most likely going to inform you whether or not you should make a return visit.
Don’t take any chances
If you experience any new pain or changes to your oral health that you can’t explain, then you shouldn’t put it off. Make an appointment as soon as possible. Your emergency dentist will be able to provide a better quality of help the sooner you are able to see them. What’s more, if you experience new pain or sensation, you shouldn’t necessarily wait for it to become an emergency. Preventative care is much more effective than treatment. By visiting your dentist before it becomes a real emergency, you could end up stopping an issue from progressing to that point in the first place.
If you neglect to go to the dentist as often as you should, you are guaranteed to have more problems with your oral health than you would otherwise. Ensure your teeth are thoroughly taken care of, that any potential problems are caught in advance, and that you have someone to turn to in the event of an emergency.
