KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - On the heels of a mammography controversy, new recommendations are out regarding cervical cancer screenings.

The guidelines suggest women wait until their 20's to have their first pap smear and they can be rescreened less often than previously recommended.

We talked with local doctors about what you should do.

It's another significant change in the way to screen cancer. New guidelines suggest women should begin getting pap smears at 21, instead of three years after they become sexually active as previously recommended. Exams should then continue every other year.

"Prior to the 1980s, there wasn't good science to dictate how often women should get Pap tests. Since then, we know more about the disease," says Alan G. Waxman with the ACOG Committee on Practice.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, or ACOG, who released the guidelines, also say women 30 and older should wait three years between paps once they have had three consecutive clear tests.

"I just have a hard time with those guidelines because in our line of work we don't really deal with the abstractions such as percentages."

Dr. Ellen Moffat, an ob/gyn with Ft. Sanders Hospital has had several young patients fight, and die, from cervical cancer.

"When you experience that whether you're a physician or a loved one, these guidelines kind of go out the window," says Moffat.

"There's no evidence whatsoever these cervical cancer guidelines will lead to any increased deaths," says Dr. Bernadine Healy, a health editor with US News & World Report.

To avoid confusion, Dr. Moffat says to talk with your doctor.

She says she'll continue to recommend to her patients annual exams and pap smears when a woman becomes sexually active. "I always look at the risk/benefit ratio, it's not that bad to get a pelvic exam and the benefits of finding something abnormal at an early stage greatly outweighs the risk of doing an exam."

Dr. Moffat recommends annual exams until age 75, unless the patient has had a hysterectomy or other procedures. Another reason she says it's important to talk with your doctor.