Quick, do you know which sports produce the most dental injuries?
According to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, it’s baseball and basketball. A big part of the reason for that is that more physical sports require athletes to wear athletic mouthguards.
The AAPD, along with the American Dental Association, recommend wearing a mouthguard for all high-impact sports (we’ll define that in a moment). Specifically, the recommend custom-fitted mouthguards, which we can make for you as part of our general dentistry in Charlotte, NC.
If you or someone in your family enjoys playing sports, then it’s a good idea to protect your teeth. Call 704-766-8662 to find out how to protect your smile at McNulty & Dancausse General Dentistry.
A Little Protection Goes A Long Way
Imagine this situation, a batter hits a pop-up into shallow left field. The shortstop turns to chance the ball. At the same time, the left fielder comes charging in. Hopefully, one player will call off the other before a collision can occur. Yet, we still see those kinds of collisions between professional players from time to time.
Those are precisely the kinds of accidents that can lead to broken or dislodge teeth. (And in those situations, we can provide emergency dental care.)
Wearing a mouthguard can minimize the effect of that impact. A sore lip isn’t great, but it’s a better result than a broken tooth.
By wearing a mouthguard, you are 60 times less likely to suffer a dental injury on the field or on the court.
It’s sort of like driving. When you get in a car, you put on a seat belt, and your vehicle probably has airbags for added protection as well. These devices won’t stop an accident from happening, but they can protect you if one does occur.
A store-bought mouthguard is like wearing a lap band (for those of you old enough to remember lap band seat belts). A custom-fitted mouthguard is more like the five-point harness that race drivers wear when they take the track. Both offer some protection, but one provides much more security if something does go wrong.
Who Needs A Mouthguard
We noted above than anyone who plays a high-impact sport should wear a mouthguard whenever they take to the field, the court, or the track.
High-impact sports involve one or more of the following:
- Jumping
- Changing speed and direction frequently
- Striking or throwing something (ball, puck, etc.)
- Physical contact between athletes
To give you some examples, in the spring, North Carolina high schools offer baseball, lacrosse, softball, women’s soccer, and men’s tennis. All of these are high-impact sports for multiple reasons. So activities such as mountain biking and skateboarding also fall in this category.
Keep Your Smile After The Game
Win or lose, you can preserve your winning smile by protecting your teeth with a custom-fitted athletic mouthguard from McNulty & Dancausse General Dentistry. To get one for your youth sports star, high school athlete, or weekend warriors, call 704-766-8662 or contact us online.