A lot of us think that we should visit the dentist every six months. Whether those check-ups are really necessary is, however, a matter of debate. In 2000, three-quarters of dentists surveyed in New York were recommending six-monthly check-ups, despite the absence of evidence. Today, many organizations still recommend six-monthly check-ups. But for several decades some have been arguing that the choice of six months as the ideal space between visits is rather questionable. For example, Aubrey Sheiham, a professor of dental public health, published a paper complaining about the lack of evidence for six-monthly check-ups. Almost 40 years, he's still making the same point.
Last year the Cochrane Collaboration performed a review of the research that had been done and they were disappointed with what they found. The quality and quantity of the research was simply too poor to back up the idea of six-monthly check-ups.
There's something else we have to bear in mind. Even when a study finds, for example, that children who go to the dentist frequently have fewer fillings, there may be other factors at work. Those same children may have other advantages; they may eat more healthy and have better quality dental equipment.
How often should you visit the dentist, then? Bodies like Nice, which provides guidance for the National Health Service in England and Wales, say that the frequency of dental visits all depends on the individual. They recommend that children go at least once a year because their teeth can decay (蛀蚀) faster, while adults without problems can wait as long as two years. They even go as far as to say that longer than two years is OK for people who have shown commitment to caring for their teeth.
Where does this leave the rest of us the next time we receive a card in the mail reminding us our next dental visit is due? We'd all like an excuse to go less often, and the good news is that if you don't have any problems you can probably wait a little longer than six months between visits. But exactly how long you can wait before your appointment with the dentist's chair will depend on the assessment you and your dentist make of your own risk.
