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The weather is getting warmer, and it is the season of outdoor sports. Twenty million children participate in various sport programs and another 80 million are involved in unsupervised recreational sports. Unfortunately, for those people playing in the game, there may not be enough time to react if they get caught in the line of fire during play. When participating in sporting events, the use of mouthguards is important in preventing injuries.
Although there are many different ways injuries can occur while playing sports, facial trauma is the most common injury. The National Federation of State and High School Associations estimates more than 7 million high school athletes may become injured from head-to-head contact, falls and elbow contact. More than 5 million teeth are knocked out each year, resulting in nearly $500 million spent annually replacing them. This is why colleges and high schools are beginning to make mouthguard use mandatory in some sports.
In an issue of the “Journal of the American Dental Association,” it was reported that up to 39 percent of all dental injuries are sports related.
Males are traumatized twice as often as females, and the upper front teeth are the most commonly injured tooth. Interestingly, 56 percent of all concussions and 75 percent of all mouth and teeth injuries occurred while the athletes were not wearing a mouthguard.
All athletes constitute a population that is extremely susceptible to trauma, with dental injuries being the most common type of injury. These types of injuries can range from soft tissue injuries, such as cuts to the lip, joint injuries and facial fractures, to broken or lost teeth. It is not uncommon that these injuries result in a trip to the emergency room for evaluation. It is estimated that mouthguards prevent between 100,000 to 200,000 oral injuries per year in professional football alone.
There are several different types of mouthguards to choose. The most common mouthguard is the boil and bite type and can be purchased at most stores. A custom molded mouthguard can be fabricated by a dentist and fits more securely around the teeth. Custom mouthguards are more ideal; however, any mouthguard is better than no mouthguard at all.
So, with the warmer days ahead, adults and children will be participating in more outdoor activities, which could possibly result in facial injuries. It is not too late to get to your local dental clinic and get your custom mouthguard or receive information about boil and bite guards. Take the right precautions to protect you and your children from a painful injury or years of dental treatment.
The Ramstein Dental Clinic hosts a walk-in mouthguard clinic during the 86th MDG Sports Physical Day. This event will take place Saturday in Bldg. 2114 in the laboratory waiting area.
