I also have dense beast and use to had yearly mammograms. Yet 7 months after a yearly mammogram in 2018, I found lump that turned out to be cancer and had already moved to lymph nodes.

After treatment (lumpectomy, chemo, radiation, AIs) I had mammogram and MRI for surveillance for first few years. Just had routine recheck with Mayo oncology and going to start alternating. So, I had MRI last week, in 6 months will do mammogram, then MRI 6 months later, etc....

One reason is insurance companies guidelines. I am on Medicare, and they only approve mammograms once a year going forward unless there is new lump.

As far as false negatives, I have had abdominal scans that found cysts that I panicked about. Drs. assure me they are not a issues. All the advancement in technology are great, but they do find things that may never cause you problems or develop into something serious.

Laurie