It is important to have a teeth check up every 6 months.  When you go to a dentist for a check up, they check your entire mouth to assess your oral health. This includes checking your teeth, cheek and tongue. They look for and treat conditions such as gum disease or infection

There are various methods to check for cavities and gum diseases. Digital tooth x-rays are the best tool to see cavities between the teeth, bone loss under the gum and any dental infection in the bone area. Before we take any dental x-rays, we always ask for your permission. As with any procedure performed at our clinics, you have the right to decline x-rays if you wish. Please note that if we do not take any x-rays, we may not be able to detect all present problems.

Some people have concerns about radiation from x-rays. Dental x-rays are safe and are used commonly in dentistry. You can find more information about this topic in our “dental x-ray” section.

How often does a check-up need to be done?

If you see your dentist every six months, you may be able to prevent major dental work and removal of tooth in the future and improve your oral hygiene. In most cases, people will get tartar build-up even if they brush well.  If you don’t get a regular teeth check-up and dental clean by a dentist, the tartar build-up near the gum may lead to gum disease.

In your regular teeth check up, the dentist can find cavities early and fill them when they are small.

If you don’t have regular teeth check-ups, the holes in the teeth can become large and reach the nerve canal. If the nerve is infected, the dentist needs to extract the tooth. In some instances, the extractions will turn into surgical extractions where the dentist has to cut the tooth and bone to take out the tooth. If you don’t want to extract the tooth you have to undergo root canal treatment.

As mentioned above, you can prevent major dental work by visiting us every six months. Regular check-up and dental cleaning may minimise expensive and painful procedures in the future. If you want more information or have any concerns, please call our friendly dentist in Bendigo. We are happy to discuss all your concerns.