Recall intervals for periodontal health in primary care patients

ABSTRACT

Background & Aim: There is ongoing international debate about the optimal frequency of dental check-ups and the effects of different recall intervals on periodontal health. Recommendations vary between countries but six-month dental check-ups have traditionally been advocated by clinicians in many high-income countries.The aim of this systematic review was to determine the optimal recall interval for maintaining periodontal health in a primary care setting. Methods: Cochrane Oral Health methods were followed. Randomized controlled trials assessing the effects of different dental recall intervals in a primary care setting were included. Two authors screened search results, extracted data and assessed risk of bias. The certainty of the evidence was assessed using GRADE. Results: Two studies were included with data from a total of 1736 participants. The main outcomes considered were percentage of sites with gingival bleeding, mean periodontal probing depths and oralhealth- related quality of life (OHRQoL) measured using Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14). This review found high-certainty evidence of little to no difference between risk-based and 6-month recall intervals after four years for the outcomes: gingival bleeding (MD 0.78%, 95% CI -1.17% to 2.73%);periodontal disease (MD 0.03 mm, 95% CI -0.01 to 0.07) and OHRQoL (MD -0.35, 95% CI -1.02 to 0.32). There is high-certainty evidence of little to no difference between risk-based and 24-month recall intervals after four years for gingival bleeding (MD -0.07%, 95% CI -4.10% to 3.96%);periodontal disease (MD 0.10 mm, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.19) and OHRQoL (MD -0.37, 95% CI -1.69 to 0.95). Conclusions: The results of this systematic review affirm that dentists can accurately assess patients' risk of periodontal disease and allocate appropriate risk-based recall intervals. This research is valuable when considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dental services and provides reassurance those intervals between check-ups can be extended beyond six months without detriment to periodontal health.