Sports Guard Wearing a well-fitted mouthguard in contact sports can prevent dental and orofacial injuries. A sports mouthguard reduces the shock of impact on your teeth and jaw joints and reduces the risk of lacerations or tears on the soft tissues of your face and mouth. In a sport like boxing, over the course of their career boxers are exposed to repeated trauma to the face. Without a mouthguard the boxer is at risk for injuries like a broken jaw, lacerated tongue, and loss of teeth, to name a few. Dental injuries can impact an athlete's quality of life and impact their ability to compete or perform at their best.The American Dental Association recommends the use of a custom-fitted quality mouthguard if you play any sport with a significant risk factor of dental or facial injury. If you are an athlete, athletic advisor, or parent to an athlete involved in close-contact sports, it is important that you support and push forward the necessity of this protective gear. Visit us at Town Center Dental if you want to learn more about our high-quality custom-fitted mouthguards. Do I really need a mouthguard?Over five million teeth are lost in the United States each year. Those aged 11 to 20 account for the highest percentage of sports-related dental and facial injuries, between 41.7% to 44.4%, depending on year. The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has mandated mouthguards for ice hockey, field hockey, lacrosse, football, and wrestling (for wrestlers wearing braces). Mouthguards are not mandated on a national level; however, sports organizations and teams can come up with their own mandates for the use of mouthguards. Many players in close-contact sports are under the impression that the use of mouthguards is based on concussion prevention. Common misconceptions that you will often hear biting down on a mouthguard takes the pressure off the jaw and reduces shock to the brain, or, if you are less likely to have a concussion in the sport you play then there is no need for a mouthguard. There is no credible research or evidence that any currently available protective equipment will prevent concussions. Headgear and other protective equipment will only reduce the risk of sustaining these injuries. Mouthguards serve the role of preventing orofacial and dental-related injuries, but not in concussion prevention. A more modern mouthguardOur team has come across many athletes with mixed feelings on using a mouthguard; they have one but simply forget to wear it, they degrade over time, they impair speech, or make it difficult to breathe. Dental fabrication technology has evolved significantly past the boil-and-bite mouthguard models that carry this bad reputation. Better models, such as the custom-fit mouthguards, like we provide, have emerged since then that can provide a more comfortable, compact fit and superior protection. Visit us at Town Center Dental if you have any concerns about a treatment plan for you or your child. Call 636-273-5866 for more information. |
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