I would say do it as little as possible. Layla will be 3 in March and hasn't had it done- that being said- I do think some dogs- because of their saliva- require it less often than others. However, I also think that by brushing daily you can reduce the amount of times she will need to go under... and because our babies are so small you really want to limit that. Layla eats home cooked food and her back molars have a bit of tartar build up but we brush them extra hard every morning