A 2020 Cochrane review that assessed the two clinical trials concluded that “whether adults see their dentist for a check‐up every six months or at personalized intervals based on their dentist’s assessment of their risk of dental disease does not affect tooth decay, gum disease, or quality of life. Longer intervals (up to 24 months) between check‐ups may not negatively affect these outcomes.” The Cochrane reviewers reported that they were “confident” of little to no difference between six-month and risk-based check-ups and were “moderately confident” that going up to 24-month checkups would make little to no difference either.

Likewise, Nadanovsky and his colleagues highlight that there is no evidence supporting the benefit of common scaling and polishing treatments for adults without periodontitis. And for children, cavities in baby teeth are routinely filled, despite evidence from a randomized controlled trial that rates of pain and infections are similar—about 40 percent—whether the cavities are filled or not.

  • Paige
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    7 months ago

    I also remember reading some research which said that time spent flossing is better spent brushing.

    Can’t help but wonder if the fillings I got as a kid which need to be replaced every few years were avoidable.

    • applepie@kbin.social
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      7 months ago

      Can confirm some bias with a trust me bro here for sure.

      Rotting food is what causes most issues with teeth is my understanding for a healthy person.

      Depending on how your teeth are spaces, brushing will do fuck all to dislodge the rot. Flossing is the only way to do it for me. Water floss is decent when I am lazy but nothing beats that’s string friction.

      I floss more regularly than brush