How often should you go for a tooth cleaning?

“Twice a year” is the figure most people know. It is a usable starting value and not a professional ruling. The sensible interval follows from the risk, and that can be established at the practice: from the gum findings, from the number and depth of the periodontal pockets, from the caries history and from how well oral hygiene works at home.

In professional terms this approach is called risk-oriented recall. Instead of giving everyone the same appointment, the interval is set according to the findings and reassessed at every session.

What argues for shorter intervals

Every three to four months is usual where several of these coincide:

• treated periodontitis — here the regular follow-up care is the part that holds the success of the treatment
• gums that bleed regularly despite careful brushing
• frequent new caries sites
• implants, extensive dentures or a fixed brace
• diabetes, an immune deficiency or a treatment that suppresses the immune system
• smoking — it impairs the blood supply to the gums and at the same time masks bleeding, the warning sign
• marked dry mouth, for instance as a side effect of medication

What argues for longer intervals

Once a year can be enough with inflammation-free gums, without deeper pockets, without new caries sites, with a complete set of one's own teeth and an oral hygiene that also reaches the interdental spaces. Anyone who forms little tartar — that is partly a matter of predisposition and depends on the composition of saliva — needs a cleaning less often than someone on whom hard deposits are found again within a few months.

The rhythm may change

An interval is not a decision for life. After periodontal treatment one starts closely and moves to longer intervals once the findings are stable. During pregnancy, with new long-term medication or when a brace is fitted, the interval becomes shorter for a time. Anyone who remains free of complaints for years can lengthen it.

A sensible question at the end of every session is therefore not “when should I come back?” but “what has changed in the findings since last time?” The appointment follows from the answer by itself.

Between the appointments

What lengthens the interval most is nothing that happens at the practice. The cleaning sets the starting point anew; how quickly the plaque builds up again is decided at home — and there above all in the interdental spaces.