Why Regular Dental Check-Ups Matter More Than You Think

When patients tell me they haven’t been to the dentist in a few years, the next sentence is almost always “but nothing hurts”. That’s the trap. Pain is the late warning. By the time a tooth hurts, the small problem we could have caught at five minutes of an examination has usually become a forty-minute restoration — sometimes a root canal, sometimes an extraction.

A routine check-up at Campos Dental takes around thirty minutes and costs £50 for an existing patient (£65 for a new patient, £25 for children). It is the cheapest and shortest appointment we offer. It is also, by some margin, the most cost-effective thing you can do for your teeth.

What we actually do at a check-up

A check-up is not just “a quick look in your mouth”. A proper examination covers seven distinct things, and skipping any of them means missing something we’re paid to spot:

1. Visual examination of every tooth surface — decay, fractures, leaking margins on old fillings, wear patterns from grinding or erosion.
2. Periodontal (gum) probing — six measurements per tooth, recording pocket depths around the roots. Gum disease is silent until it’s not; the numbers tell us early.
3. X-rays where clinically indicated — usually bitewings every 18–24 months for adults at low risk, more often if we’re tracking something. Small X-ray £15.
4. Oral cancer screening — we examine the tongue (top and underside), the floor of the mouth, the soft palate, the inside of your cheeks and lips, and we feel the lymph nodes in your neck and under your jaw. Every check-up. No extra charge. More on what we look for ›
5. Soft-tissue inspection — ulcers, white or red patches, anything that doesn’t look like healthy mucosa.
6. Occlusion check — how your teeth come together, whether there are signs of grinding, whether anything has shifted.
7. Hygiene assessment and advice — what’s working in your home routine, what isn’t, what would help.

If everything is clean we’ll book you back in six months and that’s the end of it. If we spot something, you’ll get an honest treatment plan in writing before anything is started.

Why six months — and when six months isn’t enough

Six months is the default because that’s roughly the window in which a problem can develop from invisible to significant. A new cavity that’s the size of a pinhead today is the size of a pea at six months and through to the nerve at eighteen.

Some patients should come more often: anyone with active gum disease, anyone in active orthodontic treatment, smokers, diabetics, anyone going through cancer treatment, and patients with very high decay risk. For most healthy adults, six months is right.

If life has got in the way and it has been years — please don’t avoid us because you’re embarrassed. We see patients who haven’t been in for a decade every single week. We will not lecture you. We will work through what’s there, prioritise honestly, and move at whatever pace works.

”Small problem became big” — three real examples

These are situations we see often enough to recognise the shape:

• A 2 mm cavity caught at a routine visit is a fifteen-minute filling at £100. The same cavity left for eighteen months reaches the nerve, needs root canal treatment (from £450 for a premolar) plus a crown to protect the weakened tooth (from £550), and takes two or three appointments.
• Early gum-disease pockets at 4–5 mm are reversed with a course of focused hygiene appointments and better home cleaning. The same pockets at 7+ mm involve bone loss that is not reversible — we can stabilise the disease but the bone doesn’t grow back.
• A clicking jaw noticed at a check-up is often a TMJ issue that responds to a £450 night-time splint. Left, it can become daily pain that requires more involved intervention.

None of these are scare stories. They are the standard arc of preventable problems.

Children’s check-ups

We see children from any age you’d like — many parents bring infants along to their own appointments so the practice feels familiar by the time the child has their own. The first formal examination is usually around age two or three. Child exams are £25. We’re gentle, we keep visits short, and we don’t use words that scare children (no “drill”, no “needle” — we have our own vocabulary).

A child seen routinely from age three onwards almost never needs a filling. Our children’s plan is £5 a month and covers two exams a year, fluoride varnish, X-rays as needed, and orthodontic assessment. For most families it pays for itself before the year is out.

Why a plan makes the maths easier

The arithmetic on pay-as-you-go check-ups is straightforward: two exams a year at £50 each plus two hygiene visits at £80 each is £260. The Adult Plan is £21.50/month (£258/year) and includes everything above plus 10% off any treatment you do need. For anyone who is genuinely committed to seeing us every six months, the plan costs about the same and discounts everything else.

Frequently asked

It’s been years. Will you judge me?

No. We genuinely don’t. The first appointment for someone who hasn’t seen a dentist in a long time is straightforward — we’ll examine, take X-rays where we need them, and talk through what’s there. You won’t be lectured. Many of our regular patients started this way.

Does the check-up hurt?

No. A check-up is visual examination plus gum probing — the probing can feel slightly uncomfortable around inflamed gums but it is not painful. If anything is sensitive we’ll go gently.

How often do I really need to come?

For most healthy adults, every six months. For patients with active gum disease, in orthodontic treatment, or with other risk factors, we’ll recommend more often and we’ll explain why. Less often than annually is a meaningful risk window for most people.

What if you find something I don’t want to deal with?

We’ll explain what we’ve found and your options. Some things need attention now, some things we can monitor, some things we can plan together over the year ahead. Nothing happens without your agreement, and you’ll have the cost in writing before treatment begins.

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If it’s been a while, or you’ve just moved into the area and need to register with a dentist, get in touch — we’d be glad to hear from you.

— Dr Jacqueline Jacobs