HOW TO PREVENT ONE OF THE MOST COMMON SPORTS INJURIES

According to the American Dental Association, more than 200,000 oral injuries are prevented annually in this country by sports mouthguards. While this is an impressive preventative figure, unfortunately many teeth will still be damaged because failure to wear a proper sports mouthguard exposes an athlete to a 60 times greater chance of dental injury. In fact, dental trauma is the most common type of orofacial injury sustained during participation in sports.

I recently treated a patient in my office for the second injury to his front teeth
within two years. Different teeth were broken each time because he was not wearing a sports mouthguard. While we can repair most types of dental sports injuries, why not prevent them in the first place?

The child or athlete who loses a tooth (or teeth) in a sporting injury faces lifetime
dental rehabilitation costs of up to ten thousand dollars per tooth. The total rehabilitation costs for a single tooth lost in a sporting injury are likely to be
more than 50 times the preventative cost for a custom laminated, professional grade mouthguard.

There are significant differences between a custom fabricated sports mouthguard and the premade or boil and bite type mouthguards typically found in sporting goods stores. Boil and bite type mouthguards do not fit as accurately as custom fabricated types so they often are uncomfortable, frequently interfere with the athletes breathing and speaking ability, and do not provide adequate protection at the points where trauma is likely to occur. Properly designed and custom fabricated mouthguards are essential in the prevention of athletic oral/facial injuries. Check this link for more information on types of sports mouthguards:

http://www.sportsdentistry.com/mouthguards.html

If you have an athlete in your family involved in any type of contact sport, do not risk injury to their teeth by allowing them to play without a custom fitted mouthguard. Call your dentist today to make an appointment for this critically important service.

Yours for excellent dental health,

Dr S