“Every six months” is the answer most people expect, and it’s the one dentists give most often for good reason. But it’s a general guideline, not a fixed rule that applies identically to every patient. Your actual ideal schedule depends on your oral health history, your risk factors, and how your mouth has responded to past cleanings. Here’s how to figure out what’s right for you.

How Often Should Get Dental Checkup

For most patients with generally healthy teeth and gums, a checkup and cleaning every six months strikes the right balance. That interval gives plaque and tartar enough time to build up to a point where a professional cleaning is useful, without letting problems progress far enough to become painful or expensive.

At Riggs Family Dental, this is the standard recommendation given to patients in both the Chandler and Gilbert offices: a dental cleaning and checkup every six months to catch cavities, gum disease, and other issues before they turn into bigger problems. For a patient with no history of gum disease, no chronic conditions affecting oral health, and consistent brushing and flossing habits, six months is typically the right interval.

When You Might Need to Go More Often

Six months is a starting point, not a ceiling. Certain factors push some patients toward more frequent visits — often every three to four months:

• A history of gum disease. Patients being treated for or recovering from periodontal disease often need more frequent professional cleanings to keep bacteria under control between visits.
• Diabetes or other conditions that affect healing and infection risk. Chronic conditions that impact your immune response can also affect how quickly plaque and bacteria cause problems in your mouth.
• A tendency to build up tartar quickly. Some patients simply accumulate tartar faster than others, regardless of how well they brush and floss.
• Dry mouth, whether from medication, a medical condition, or another cause, which reduces the natural rinsing effect of saliva and allows bacteria to build up faster.
• Smoking or tobacco use, which increases the risk of gum disease and can mask early warning signs like bleeding gums.
• Orthodontic treatment or dental implants, both of which can create spots that are harder to clean at home and benefit from closer monitoring.

If any of these apply to you, ask your dentist directly whether your schedule should be adjusted. At Riggs Family Dental, this is part of the conversation at every checkup — if something in your mouth or your health history suggests you’d benefit from being seen more often, that’s flagged and discussed with you directly rather than defaulting to a generic interval.

What Actually Happens at a Six-Month Checkup

A routine checkup isn’t just a cleaning — it’s a chance to catch problems while they’re still small and inexpensive to treat. A typical visit includes:

1. A review of your dental and medical history, including any changes since your last visit.
2. A full clinical exam, checking your teeth, gums, and soft tissues for early signs of decay, gum disease, or other concerns.
3. Diagnostic X-rays, when needed, to catch issues that aren’t visible during a visual exam — like decay between teeth or bone loss below the gumline.
4. A professional cleaning, removing plaque and tartar buildup that brushing and flossing at home can’t fully reach.
5. A conversation about your home care, including brushing technique, flossing, and any specific concerns for your mouth.

This is the same process new patients go through at their first visit to Riggs Family Dental — a consultation covering dental and medical history, a complete exam with X-rays, and time to discuss questions and concerns before any treatment plan is finalized.

What Happens If You Skip Checkups

Many of the most common dental problems — cavities, gum disease, and worn enamel — don’t cause noticeable pain in their early stages. That’s exactly why routine checkups matter: they catch issues before symptoms force you into an emergency visit. Skipping checkups doesn’t mean nothing is happening in your mouth; it just means problems have more time to develop before anyone catches them; often turning a simple filling into a root canal, or early gum inflammation into more advanced periodontal disease.

Does Insurance Cover Checkups?

Generally, dental insurance plans pay more toward preventive services — cleanings, exams, fluoride treatments, and X-rays — than toward more involved restorative work. That makes routine checkups one of the most cost-effective visits you can make, since they’re typically the best-covered service on most PPO plans. Riggs Family Dental works with a range of PPO insurance plans and can help verify your benefits before your visit.

If you don’t have dental insurance, the Thrive Dental Plan at Riggs Family Dental is worth a look: for an annual membership starting at $99, members get free exams and X-rays, plus up to 20% off other services, with no waiting periods or deductibles.

Finding Your Right Interval

The only way to know your ideal checkup schedule is to have a dentist evaluate your specific mouth, history, and risk factors — not to guess based on a general rule. If it’s been longer than six months since your last visit, that’s reason enough to schedule one now rather than wait for a symptom to force the issue.

Schedule Your Checkup in Chandler

Whether you’re due for your six-month cleaning or it’s been longer than you’d like to admit, Riggs Family Dental in Chandler makes it simple to get back on schedule. Call (480) 566-8349 or visit the office at 3960 E Riggs Rd, Ste 5, Chandler, AZ 85249 to book your checkup, and ask about the $79 new patient special if you’re due for your first visit.