How often should I visit the dentist?

Dr Tirza Harley chatting with a patient in a dental chair

Read time: 2 mins

The short answer to this is…it varies for everyone and changes over your lifetime. 

Factors we, as clinicians, consider:

  • History of gum disease and gingivitis (bleeding gums) and other pathologies
  • History of decayed teeth, missing teeth, number of teeth with fillings in them
  • Ability to clean teeth, patient dexterity can change over the years (For example: a child vs an adult vs an elderly person)
  • Presence of medical conditions
  • Medications taken can change your saliva flow, affecting your risk of decay
  • Presence of crowns, bridges, implants and dentures
  • How important teeth are to you

At Pennant Hills Dental Centre, we pride ourselves on operating a practice heavily centred around preventative maintenance. This means that regular dental visits are used to maintain your mouth and prevent major problems from occurring which are often painful, expensive or both! It’s like exercising to get fit, you don’t just get fit once, it’s something that you have to work at to improve your quality of life. Your oral health is much the same. Since everyone has different needs both our dentists and hygienist assess each case on an individual basis. As a general rule, the higher the risk category, the more frequent the maintenance visits. These could be 3 monthly, 4 monthly, 6 monthly, 9 monthly or even 12 monthly for those at very low risk of oral disease and with exemplary oral hygiene.

Gum disease is a real hidden killer. It’s painless and progresses causing IRREVERSIBLE damage dissolving the bone around your teeth. Then all of a sudden one day you feel loose teeth and then they require removal, and at this point there is no way we can save them. Our hygienist is a specialist in treating gum disease and giving you helpful hints on how to maintain your teeth and keep them for life! 

So at your next appointment if you are wondering why we have suggested a 3month review or 6 month review, feel free to ask our dentists and hygienist, so we can help explain where we believe your risk factors fall. We strive to help our patients keep their teeth in the condition they want and for as long as they want. In order to do this regular maintenance is key.

Book online at www.pennanthillsdentalcentre.com.au

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