Importance of Wearing a Mouth Guard in Sports

1. Importance of Wearing a Mouth Guard in Sports Even with the advent of the internet, video games and the golden age of television, it is nice to see kids, youth, and adults, too, engaging in various outdoor sports activities. However, where there is passion, there is bound to be some damage too. In case of sports, it is usually injuries. The National Youth Sports Foundation for Safety reports dental injuries to be the most common type of orofacial injury in sports. Another interesting finding from their study is that an athlete is 60 times more likely to sustain damage to the teeth when not wearing a protective mouth guard. Most of the time these injuries lead to permanent damage to the bone and tooth structure of the mouth, in turn requiring medical involvement. Injuries to the teeth are grouped into three different categories: ¨ Fracture – it can be classified as root fracture, broken tooth, or chipped tooth. They can be stabilized by gently biting on a towel to control bleeding. Then the patient should be immediately taken to the dentist with the tooth fragment.

2. ¨ Avulsion – In this case, the entire tooth, along with the root, is knocked out. The tooth should be handled by the crown and not the root. Also, no efforts should be made to brush, scrub or sterilize the tooth. If the tooth is dirty, simply rinse it in water. If possible, place the tooth back into the socket and let the athlete bite on the towel very gently and, if they are unable to fix it back then, take them to the dentist immediately. ¨ Luxation – This happens when the tooth is in a wrong socket or wrong position. It happens in two situations – either when the tooth appears longer than the neighboring tooth or when it is pushed back or pulled out from the complete alignment of the set. Prevention of such injuries becomes easier when they get a properly fitted custom mouth guard. The American Dental Association recommends wearing a custom mouth guard for acrobats, basketball, boxing, field hockey, football, gymnastics, handball, ice hockey, martial arts, rugby, skateboarding and many more sports, where there are extremely high chances of getting hurt. The mouth guard should be worn during all the practices and competitions. Selecting a proper mouth guard is also crucial in preventing injuries. There are three types of mouth guards: Ready-made mouth guard Mouth-formed “boil and bite” mouth guard Custom made mouth guard made by a dentist Per the ADA, the most helpful mouth guard should be comfortable, resistant to tearing, and flexible. It should fit properly, be durable, easily cleaned, and not restrict speech or breathing. You should always remember one thing – a damaged tooth does not grow again. So, protect the smile; wear a mouth guard. Mouth guard prevents oral injuries such as: Chipped or broken teeth Damage to the tooth’s root Tongue injury

3. Injury to lip and cheeks Fractured jaw Since it is impossible to predict when accidents happen in a game, it is important that you wear the mouth guard all the time, even during practices and irrespective of whether you are a kid, a teenager or an adult. Even when you are playing leisure sports, you should wear a mouth guard.