"Six-month recall dental appointments, for all children, are (un)justifiable".
Each child is an individual with specific needs, which necessitates a different plan of management based on the type of oral disease or disability present. This raises a question as to whether the customary fixed six-month recall visits for children commonly advocated by dental professionals need to be altered/adjusted so as to reflect the individual's oral health needs more closely, in order to optimize their clinical and cost-effectiveness. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the evidence to either justify or refute the six-month recall dental appointments for all children. Based on the available evidence, we conclude that the judgment about appropriate intervals should be made by the dental practitioner on an individual risk basis as insufficient evidence exists to either justify, or refute the six-month recall dental appointments.
Anthonappa
Robert P
RP
Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
King
Nigel M
NM
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000592:standards*; D003777:Dental Prophylaxis / Q000592:standards*; D019229:Dentition, Permanent; D055094:Evidence-Based Dentistry; D006801:Humans; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010347:Patient Care Planning / Q000592:standards*; D013997:Time Factors; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous