to think this much dental treatment is unnecessary?

Do you know what his gum , plaque and bleeding scores are? The point about private care is that is also provides preventative care as well. NHS just treats disease.

If he had no plaque, calculus,bleeding etc then there would be nothing for the hygienist to remove . He has been at the appointments , had the care from hygienist and is convinced he needs it from what the hygienist has said .

@Lollygaggle even if someone cleans effectively, uses interdental brushes, doesn’t smoke, uses Gengigel and single tuft brushes, they’re still likely to be told to go every three months.

That’s the regime I have twice a day and that’s what I’m told to do - at £80 a visit.

Gum disease is not ever cured it is only stabilised and 90% of that is work by the patient and 10% by the dentist/hygienist.

Tartar (calculus) will reform if plaque is left undisturbed for at least 24 hours. So in other words the hygienist can do a brilliant job getting rid of all the tartar but if someone doesn’t change their regime and clean effectively within 24 hours that tartar has started to reform .

Most people in the U.K. will lose their teeth not from decay but from gum disease and 75% of the population do not clean effectively .

Missed diagnosis of gum disease is the number one reason dentists get sued.

If someone cleans effectively , uses interdental brushes etc every day, stops smoking , keeps diabetes under control (if applicable) and follows hygienists recommendations and doesn’t have deep pockets then they will not have to see hygienist so often or at all.

Is Denplan an option? We pay a flat fee monthly which covers all appointments including hygienists and most treatments except lab fees and implants.

I’ve just been told to have 3 monthly hygienist appointments too. I had my first visit and two of my teeth have since chipped and I can’t but help blame them as I’ve never had a broken tooth on my life never mind two chips.

Does he have gum disease that they are trying to manage?

I find private dentists to be pretty grabby. My last one was trying to refer me to a surgeon for a review of a surgery which I had 11 years ago. She also told me "you really need to see a hygienist" as it my teeth were about to fall out. I saw one a few months later when I was visiting my parents in Europe and the job took 20 minutes and she said I didn't really have much to remove and she will do a superficial clean and a soda polish instead.