Don’t Get Kicked in the Teeth – At Least Wear a Mouthguard

According to the American Dental Association, at least 13% of all injuries to the mouth occur during sports activities. While helmets, shoulder pads, shin guards, and the like do a great job of protecting most of the body, Dr. Brewer would like to make sure that every athlete knows how to keep their teeth safe from harm. No Lexington parent should have to worry about their child’s teeth during games, so at Brewer Family Dental we would like to talk about how to take sports safety to the next level.

Mouthguards and Sports Safety

In Lexington, we live for a good game. Our athletes train hard to win, so it’s not hard to imagine why they don’t shy away from contact. However, that doesn’t mean that your family has to suffer the consequences of a sports-related oral injury. Mouthguards are the key to oral safety in sports.

When to Get a Mouthguard

Let’s say your child has decided to sign up for a high school team, or maybe you’ve joined a local sports league. Now you’re wondering – do I really need a mouthguard? Does my child need one? More often than not, the answer is yes. Dr. Brewer reminds us that an oral sports injury can cause anything from a swollen lip to a chipped, broken, or knocked-out tooth to severe tissue damage. Mouth protectors provide a buffer, substantially reducing the risk of harm from an impact. Some research even suggests that mouthguards help protect against concussions. Here are some surprising facts about mouthguards and sports safety:

  • Don’t want to wear a mouthguard? Your risk of oral injury is 60 times higher without one
  • Oral injuries are 15 times higher in youth basketball than football (likely because mouthguards are required for football, but not for basketball)
  • At least 3 million kids’ teeth were knocked out during sports activities in 2012, according to the National Youth Sports Safety Foundation
  • The total lifetime cost of a lost permanent tooth can be as much as $20,000

Although schools only require mouthguards for football, lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey, basketball and baseball have the highest occurrences of dental injury. To add to that, there are more than 29 sports for which the American Dental Association recommends the use of mouth protectors. Here at Brewer Family Dental, we want everyone to have a healthy, protected smile, so make sure to contact us if you have any questions about the need for a mouthguard.

Finding the Right Mouthguard

Dr. Brewer would like every Lexington resident to know that sports safety extends beyond just using a mouthguard. In order to have maximum protection, your child or teen needs to wear a properly-fitted mouth protector during games and practices. Most mouthguards cover only the top row of teeth, but Dr. Brewer may recommend coverage for both rows under certain circumstances. A mouthguard should never make breathing or speaking difficult. In addition, mouthguards should be resilient, tear-resistant, and fit comfortably in the user’s mouth. Below are the three main types of mouth protectors:

  1. Stock – these mouthguards can be purchased at most sporting goods stores. They are the cheapest option, but offer the least protection (because they can’t be customized) and may cause irritation or fall out during use.
  2. Boil and bite – these mouthguards are fitted to the athlete’s mouth after being boiled. Although they fit better than stock mouthguards, they can become worn over time and may not last very long.
  3. Custom-fitted – these mouthguards are the most expensive, but provide the most protection and comfort. Dr. Brewer will create a unique mold of your teeth, which is then used to craft a mouthguard that fits your teeth perfectly.

Have any questions? Don’t hesitate to contact us! At Brewer Family Dental, we are committed to providing the best dental care in Lexington and that means making sure that all our athletes are protected!

Brewer Family Dental
2505 Larkin Rd #102
Lexington, KY 40503
(859) 554-4799

Sources

http://www.aapd.org/

http://www.drosmanski.com/blog/category/Sports.html

http://www.momsteam.com/health-safety/position-statement-and-recommendations-for-mouthguard-use-in-sports

http://blog.brighter.com/2013/score-big-with-dental-safety-and-sports/#_ftn1

The post Don’t Get Kicked in the Teeth – At Least Wear a Mouthguard appeared first on Brewer Family Dental.



from Brewer Family Dental https://dentistinlexingtonky.com/blog/dont-get-kicked-in-the-teeth-at-least-wear-a-mouthguard/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Help! My Child is Terrified of the Dentist

Image
If you’re the parent of a young child, you know their brains are similar to sponges that soak up everything around them—especially in their first five years, which neuroscientists say is when they’ll do the most learning and developing in their entire life. At this formative time, your child may amaze you with what they notice: your facial expressions, the different tones of your voice, and your habits. If your habits include regular dental visits and an excellent oral hygiene routine, they’ll notice and want to emulate you. If you happen to feel anxious about your dental visits, or you groan when you’ve got to floss and brush, they may synchronize and feel your dread. This could lead to dental fears that stick with them for years—potentially a lifetime! Kids Can Be Courageous If you’re feeling guilty right now, go ahead and put that away as it won’t serve you or your little one. Everyone has some room for improvement, and Coastal Pediatric Dentistry® is here to help show you an...
Read more

Going for the Gold?

Image
On the left is the older allow, on the right the new one that my lab has chosen to use The cost of a penny weight of pure gold is currently $79.53. The cost of a penny weight of pure palladium is $130.6. It used to be that palladium was added instead of gold to the precious metals often used for pfms, but now laboratories are finding that palladium is no longer affordable. The lab that I am using has just changed the formulation of the metal it's using to one that has more gold than palladium. I really do not mind, but metals with more gold are softer and often easier for a dentist to accidentally polish off delicate margins. It is important when polishing "higher gold" formulations to exert less hand pressure when performing the final polishing of the crown's margins. Other wise there should be no problem with this change. Traditionally labs have chosen alloys with higher gold percentages for optimal esthetics, since alloys with higher concentrations of ...
Read more

Lemon Juice – The Good, the Bad, & the Sour

Image
In a great tale of opposites, lemon juice can be both acidic and basic, or alkaline. Read on to find out why people are talking about this, and what it means for your oral and overall health . What is pH and why does it matter? Drinking lemon juice (usually diluted in a glass of water or added to a cup of tea) is a beloved health tonic among fans of natural medicine. Potential benefits include lower cholesterol, lower inflammation in the body, and increased metabolism and energy. Lemon also contains high levels of antioxidants and vitamin C that boost your immune system. On a scale from 0-14, a pH of 7 is neutral (pure water) while numbers below 7 are acidic (unhealthy), and above 7 are basic or alkaline (healthy). Believers in holistic health blame many ailments on the body’s pH being too low or too acidic. Increasing your body’s pH is called “alkalizing.” Lemon juice in its natural state is acidic with a pH of about 2, but once metabolized it actually becomes alkaline with a pH ...
Read more