[JeremyNT]

Routine dental visits are essentially cargo culted.

There is some robust evidence indicating that routine plaque removal does not improve outcomes for cavity prevention or gingivitis [0].

Routine consultation with dentists otherwise may be beneficial, maybe not, but it hasn't really been studied much yet. The studies that exist are insufficient to form any conclusions. [1]

My post was downvoted by those who feel going to the dentist is important. I should state clearly avoiding the dentist should not be considered medical advice from me, and YMMV. I did the research myself and determined that routine dentistry was unlikely to improve my health outcomes, this is a personal decision that people should make on their own.

[0] https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD...

[1] https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD...

[htss2013]

The fact that these were published in 2018, implying before then it was never really studied, is sort of crazy.

The cost of biannual dentist visits for life is huge across the entire population. I would have thought there was strong evidence for this a long time ago. If nothing else, I would have thought insurance companies would stop paying for the bi-annual visits if there wasn't good evidence it works.

Then again, maybe I'm giving insurance companies to much credit since they've been paying for acupuncture for decades.