Do you go to the dentist/hygenist regularily?

[Igottago]

I neglected it for the better part of my late 20's/early 30's and don't know why, since I had coverage through work. There was no excuse really.

I've started going routinely again now, and while things weren't a disaster, I did need to have some work done. Without a doubt, its better to go regularly than to procrastinate and have a bunch of issues need to be addressed at once. I wish I could tell the younger version of myself to stop being an idiot and just go every year.

[btimbit]

About once a year for me

[malcolmk14]

Every 6 months.

I also had a dentist hiatus during my last couple years of University.

[afc wimbledon]

Pretty regular, generally once a decade or so.

[Fuzz]

You sound British.

[MoneyGuy]

I go every six months and had a cleaning yesterday. My idiot brother was terrified so never went. Years ago he had to have most of his teeth pulled. I don't know what he has going on in there now. A few bridges, I suspect.

[CroFlames]

Sounds like most University students in Calgary have gross mouths haha.

[jonesy]

I have had a few plans over the years, Blue cross, Manulife, Greenshields, with fairly comprehensive benefits. None of them ever covered the entire costs of going to the dentist every 6 months. There is an ongoing battle between the provincial recommendations and what dentists want to do.
If you just tell your dentist what is covered than you can go every 8 months or so, or else on every 2nd visit not do some of the procedures. (units of scaling, xrays etc)
It seems a dental money grab.

[Northendzone]

my teeth are real and they are spectacular

[troutman]

May the Floss be with you?

https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org...ou/#more-39528

We all know no one flosses like they’re supposed to and that flossing is absolutely the best thing a person can do for his or her oral health, right?

But how effective is flossing anyway? After all, it is the cornerstone of what we dentists preach to our patients to prevent cavities and gum disease (and evidently have since the Bronze Age), but does flossing really deliver the goods? We dentists are consistently voted as one of the most trusted professions, but can you trust our recommendations about flossing?

Well, I don’t want to come across as one of those conspiracy theory nuts, but this blog post could very well be titled “Things Your Dentist Doesn’t Want You To Know.” It turns out that flossing may not be as beneficial as we have been claiming all these years. But before you throw out the canisters of floss you’ve accumulated over the years (but never use), please stick with me until the very end of the article.

To summarize, flossing might make your gums less puffy, and likely makes your mouth feel better without those hunks of shredded chicken stuck in that annoying space between your molars, but it really doesn’t do much in terms of any sort of disease prevention.

That being said, I am still going to recommend that my patients brush and floss, and I’m pretty sure I will continue to brush and floss myself. Why? For one, it’s in our DNA. Just as salmon must return to their birth rivers to spawn, we dental professionals are compelled to drone on and on about brushing and flossing. We can’t help it. Second, floss is cheap, and there’s really no downside to doing it. Third, the reviews discussed above are statistical analyses, and despite the overall lack of proven efficacy on a population level, on an individual basis there will be people who may prevent disease by good oral hygiene practices. And finally, most people don’t want their mouths to taste and smell like the bottom of a birdcage.

To floss, or not to floss? That is the question. Now that you are armed with the evidence, you can make the choice which is best for you. If you want to prevent tooth decay, you should focus on reducing your sugar intake, use a fluoridated toothpaste, and perhaps a fluoride mouth rinse. Whether you decide to floss or not depends on your desired outcome. For a fresh, debris-free mouth, yes, go ahead and floss away. If your desire is to prevent cavities or periodontitis, other methods are more effective.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rosspome.../#106ffdff77d5

http://www.nature.com/ebd/index.html

Welcome to Evidence-Based Dentistry

Bridging the gap between research and dental practice, EBD provides a single source of ground breaking issues in Dentistry. We filter out the best range of evidence from a wide range of sources, presenting clear, comprehensive and easily digestible summaries.

[Fuzz]

I'm a floss slacker. I'll maybe do it once a week, then every day for a week before my cleaning to prevent gum pain. I know I should do it more, but ya. Lazy.

[Regulator75]

I need to floss, sometimes after every meal. Food in my teeth grinds my gears.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

You sound British.

Bog off yer wanker

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by worth

If you have a 9-5 job and insurance covers most of the cost, there's really no reason not to go.

This is also my view. I go 2-3 times per year. No reason not to. I have pretty good dental health but it's 3ish hours per year, not a big deal.

[Locke]

I go every 6 months and always have. I see a lot of 'during University I didnt go' posts, which I find strange.

Part of your tuition includes health insurance which usually includes Dental. YUou might be stipulated to going to a University dentist but its still covered.

[FireGilbert]

I haven't been since university so about 10 years. I have never had any problems and the dentist would regularly comment on how hard my teeth were so I didn't see a reason to keep enduring an hour of mouth torture once a year. I may start going again though as my current health insurance covers it.

I will also add that I credit fluoride for my healthy teeth. When we lived in small town BC my Mom gave me fluoride drops and then was lucky enough to live in Calgary during the progressive fluoride in the water days.

[malcolmk14]

Originally Posted by Locke

I go every 6 months and always have. I see a lot of 'during University I didnt go' posts, which I find strange.

Part of your tuition includes health insurance which usually includes Dental. YUou might be stipulated to going to a University dentist but its still covered.

I was covered under my parents until I was 25, so I opted out of the university coverage and saved the $100/semester or whatever it was. I ended up staying in University until I was 27 though, so I went without coverage for about two years.

[The Yen Man]

I'm actually pretty surprised so many people don't go to the dentist regularly or do annual checkups with their family doctors. I can understand with no coverage, but lots of people have coverage and they still don't go. I guess it's fear of the dentist. I personally hate the dentist too, but I look at it as a necessary evil.

Annual checkups with their doctors, I have no idea why people don't go. It's free, and takes like a couple of hours of one day in the year.

[OffsideSpecialist]

I haven't gone in about a year, since my parents' insurance no longer covers me. I want to go for a basic cleaning, but I'm sure they'll convince me that I need x-rays and the whole lot, which adds up pretty quickly for somebody that's currently unemployed lol.

[lazypucker]

Since I have been in and out of jobs for the last 4 years, I have only been gone to the dentist like twice during that time period.

I need steady employment - queue the Layoffs in the Oil Patch thread.......