Dentist Visits Every Six Months?

This story from the Chicago-Sun Times reports the findings from a U.K based research group (the Cochrane Collaboration) that there is little scientific evidence to support six month dental check-up visits:

Ever since the 19th century, dentists have been telling patients: Get a dental checkup every six months.

But it turns out there’s little scientific evidence to support this long-standing advice, according to the Cochrane Collaboration, a respected research group.

Researchers looked through decades of dental research from around the world. Remarkably, they could find almost no high-quality studies on when to get checkups.

As a result, they concluded, there’s not enough scientific evidence to support or refute the traditional recommendation to see your dentist twice a year.

Cochrane is an international organization based in the United Kingdom that analyzes data from clinical trials.

The six-month checkup tradition dates back to 1849, when it was mentioned in a children’s book called The Toothache.

“It was a suggestion without any scientific support, and became folklore,” says Douglas Benn, a retired University of Florida dental professor.

A 1999 study by Benn and others found “no scientific support” for advising six-month checkups for all patients. Instead, they recommended different intervals, depending on the condition of each patient’s teeth and gums.

During a routine checkup, a dentist typically examines the teeth and gums, looks for signs of oral cancer, checks the jaw joint and might take X-rays. And the dentist or a hygienist often cleans the teeth and gums.

The American Dental Association recommends that patients at high risk for tooth decay and gum disease get checkups every three months or so. Medium-risk patients should go every six months. Low-risk patients, who take excellent care of their teeth and have no active decay or gum disease, should come in every 12 months.

Most patients fall in the medium-risk, six-month category, says association spokeswoman Kimberly Harms.

In their survey of dental research, Cochrane researchers included only studies in which participants were randomly assigned to follow different checkup schedules, such as six months vs. 12 months. Such studies “are most likely to produce the least biased evidence,” Cochrane says.

Only one study, published in 1992, met this widely accepted research standard. It was conducted in Norway and included children aged 3 to 18. Researchers found no difference in tooth decay, fillings and other problems between kids who saw their dentists every 12 months and those who went every 24 months. But even this study had several flaws, the Cochrane report said.

Sorry folks!

Flap goes every three months!