How often do you visit the dentist?

I go every 6 months.
I have health insurance with work that covers to cost and I'm lucky enough to have only 1 filling as I look after my teath.

jiggles wrote:Every 6 months like clockwork. I’m on some Denplan subscription thing that includes 2 checkups a year with a clean & polish, as well as any fillings needed. I haven’t needed any work outside of fillings in my adult life so I’ve never had to pay outside of the subscription.

The true game changer was getting a good electric toothbrush and WaterPik. Haven’t needed any work done since and the dentist is complementing me on how well clean I am each visit. Shame I didn’t do it earlier, probably could have avoided all the fillings.

This. I found out I needed another two fillings in February 2020 but the filling appointment in March 2020 got cancelled because my son had a cough. In between those two events my wife (with no fillings at all) got told to buy an electric toothbrush and I decided to join her. Lockdown was actually really good for my teeth because I was able to bed in this routine for dental hygiene with timed toothbrushing AND mouthwash AND flossing. Two years later I go for a check up and there's no change, so the improvement in my dental care is right there to see.

My teeth have historically been bad because (a) I eat and drink stuff that makes me happy, (b) when I had drunk too much stuff that made me happy brushing my teeth was the first thing on the bedtime list to go because my mouth would feel like shite the next day anyway, and (c) I am TERRIFIED of mouth needles . I've had fillings done without anaesthetic I was that bad, but I've worked hard to deal with the fear.

When I went to my current dentist for the first time they had this thing called the magic wand to make injections less painful. I thought it would be a light freeze spray or a topical lidocaine. I asked the dentist about it - "Yeah it's just a little needle" - and the cackhanded prick grazed my lip so that went numb too

I hadn't been for about a decade until late 2021. I had a few cavities that needed fillings (first I've ever had) and they also removed my wisdom teeth which was a bit of bugger for a couple of weeks. Still, could have been worse. They even said they weren't particularly bad considering I'd not been for a long time so I was quite pleased about that. Just needed a proper dentist clean. I don't have any amazing equipment, just a budget electric toothbrush and those toothpicks that are terrible for environment.

This reminds me, I should book a check up as it's been about a year.

I'm on Denplan, but I go every three months so I have to pay a bit extra.

Not that it's any of your strawberry floating business.

Every 6 months (Denplan spin off). Was referred to hospital for an impacted wisdom tooth that needs removing. That was 18 months ago.

I haven't been since 2012 when I had an ulcer in my gum that needed antibiotics etc. I only go if I have an issue. I'm not signed up anywhere, the ulcer dentist was a practice inside Sainsbury's.

Maybe annually, at a push. My teeth have historically been fine - only ever needed a solitary filling - so I don't bother until something is wrong or I'm at risk of being knocked off the dentist's books.

I do see the hygienist every 6 months though.

site23 wrote:I enquired at some dentists when I was doing my Ph.D., and they told me they had two year waiting lists for NHS treatment. At the time it didn't seem worthwhile because I didn't know whether I'd be moving away or whatever at the end -- I figured that, although it's annoying and expensive, I would just sign up privately once I had, like, a real job and some money.

Then I graduated and the Covid lockdowns happened, so the dentists near me went emergencies-only for a couple of years.

They only started opening up for regular appointments again recently. So now I'm in the position of having not been for years and years, and I know I really should go and sign up now that it's available... but I'm dreading it as I think there's a good chance they'll want to do loads of work.

(Also, this is just me being whingy, but I get resentful about the whole thing because dentistry should be nationalised...)

If it helps I hadn't been to the dentist since checkups at primarily school based only on what I can remember, so about 22 years. This was essentially neglect as at least one of my parents could easily afford private care. My teeth were in excellent condition and they said very good brushing etc and even said "thank you" even though I only floss occasionally. They seemed a bit shocked. My mum says its genes. I only recently got back into the habit of brushing twice a day instead of before bed. But I did do some of my own scaling using various utensils that are basically the same for my work.

I chipped my enamel (but only cosmetic, I didn't know how deep my enamel was) a tiny bit maybe 6 months ago and filed it down myself. I got the tiniest filling ever they said wasn't in my bite but it was, so that broke but behind where it wasn't needed anyway. I filed that again and may get it polished. I kept tonguing it.

I also have some mystery discomfort due to my lymph nodes weaving between my molar roots, which is why I bit onto a spoon and chipped a molar. Nothing pathological apparently.

If you do brush and don't eat a huge amount of sugar (I pretty much don't eat sweets) it might not be as bad as you think. Don't be scared to look yourself.

I'm fortunate that while I was living in my hometown they were accepting NHS patients after covid. Maybe because they lost a bunch from isolation. I get tax credit exemption. But recently figured out I've spend a few thousand pounds on medication I didn't have to pay for. The whole system is a piss take considering we are meant to pay for "free" healthcare collectively. It's far too complicated and my partner for instance insisted for ages she couldn't get fillings done free and so never goes (were both eligible for level 1,2 and 3 treatments, I think some things are reduced cost and some cosmetics are not covered, like veneers or whitening).