How often should you visit the dentist is one of those questions where the familiar answer, every six months, turns out to be a rule of thumb rather than a rule. The interval that suits you depends on your mouth, and for some people it is longer than six months while for others it is considerably shorter.
On this page
- Where the six-month idea came from
- What the guidance actually says
- Who needs to come more often
- Who can go longer
- Check-ups and hygiene visits are different
- What happens if you skip them
- “But nothing hurts”
- The bottom line
Where the six-month idea came from
The six-month interval has been dental convention for decades, and it is a perfectly reasonable default for many people. It became standard partly through habit and partly because it is a convenient, memorable rhythm.
What it was never based on is any evidence that six months is right for everybody. Some mouths need watching more closely; others genuinely do not.
What the guidance actually says
Current UK guidance is that recall intervals should be set individually, based on your risk of dental disease. In practice that means somewhere between three months and two years for adults, and up to a year for children.
Your dentist assesses your risk from your gum measurements, your history of decay, your habits and your general health, and recommends an interval accordingly. It is reviewed at each visit, so it can lengthen as your mouth becomes healthier or shorten if something changes.
The NHS guidance on dental services explains the principle.
Who needs to come more often
Three to four monthly visits are commonly appropriate for:
- Anyone with a history of gum disease, since it is controlled rather than cured and needs monitoring
- Smokers, for whom gum disease progresses faster and bleeding is masked
- People with a high rate of decay, or a recent run of new cavities
- Anyone with diabetes, given the two-way relationship with gum health
- People with a lot of dental work, where margins need watching
- Patients undergoing orthodontic treatment
- Those with dry mouth, often from medication, which raises decay risk considerably
Who can go longer
Intervals of twelve to eighteen months, occasionally two years, can be appropriate if:
- Your gums have been consistently healthy over several visits
- You have had no new decay for a long period
- You have little existing dental work
- You do not smoke
- Your home cleaning is genuinely thorough, including between the teeth
The key word is consistently. This is a judgement based on measurements taken over time rather than on how things look at one appointment.
Check-ups and hygiene visits are different
Worth separating, because they do different jobs and can run on different schedules.
A check-up is an examination: looking for decay, assessing your gums, screening your soft tissues. It finds problems.
A hygiene appointment is active treatment: removing the plaque and hardened tartar that cause those problems. It prevents them.
Many patients have both at similar intervals, but someone with excellent teeth and troublesome gums might need frequent hygiene visits and less frequent examinations. Our post on how often to have a scale and polish covers that side.
What happens if you skip them
Two things progress quietly, and both are cheaper to treat early.
Decay starts small and painless. Caught at a check-up it needs a small filling; left until it hurts it often needs root canal treatment and a crown, or extraction.
Gum disease is worse in this respect, because it is largely painless until advanced. Our post on why gums bleed when you brush covers the only real warning sign, and even that is absent in smokers.
There is also the mouth cancer screening at every visit, which takes moments and where early detection matters enormously. Our post on how to check your mouth at home covers what to do between appointments.
“But nothing hurts”
This is the commonest reason people stop attending, and it is entirely understandable. It is also why dental problems get expensive.
Pain is a late symptom in dentistry. Decay is painless until it reaches the nerve. Gum disease is painless until teeth loosen. A crack is painless until it spreads. By the time something hurts, the cheap and simple window has usually closed.
The whole value of a check-up is finding things before they announce themselves.
The bottom line
There is no universal answer. Six months suits many people, some need three or four monthly visits, and others can safely go a year or more. Your interval should be set from your own risk and reviewed at each visit rather than applied by default.
If you are not sure when you were last seen, or you have been putting it off, ring us on 01255 422506 and we will start with an examination and go from there. Our post on coming back after years away may be reassuring if it has been a long time.
This article is general information rather than personal dental advice. Every mouth is different, so please speak to your dentist about your own teeth.