It’s April and that
means it’s Facial Protection Month and time to schedule an appointment with
your dentist for a custom made mouthguard.
According to the Academy
of Sports Dentistry, over 12 million kids, teens, and young adults between the
ages of five and 22 have some sort of injury related to sports. Add that up and
it’s nearly 20 million days of school that will be missed along with 34 billion
dollars in healthcare costs. However, the American Association of Oral and
Maxillofacial Surgeons will tell you that some of those sports related injuries
may have been prevented had the person with the injury been fitted with a
mouthguard.
The American Dental
Association will tell you that there are three types of mouthguards available.
Stock, Boil and Bite and Custom fitted.
Stock mouth
protectors are available from your local pharmacy or a sporting goods store,
and although they do provide some protection can be uncomfortable and cumbersome.
Stock mouthguards make it hard to talk and even more difficult to breathe.
Boil and Bite mouth
protectors are a step up from stock mouthguards and available from your
pharmacy or sports stores. A Boil and Bite mouth guard is heated in hot water
and immediately placed inside the mouth so that it molds to your bite.
A custom-made
mouthguard is your best defense against sports related injuries that could
include a blow to the head or a mouth injury. Your dentist is the only person
who can fit you with a custom-made mouthguard that is designed from a dental
impression that is made from your teeth.
Researchers have
discovered that the most common sports related injuries occur in the following
sporting activities:
- Basketball
- Football
- Bicycling
- Playgrounds
- Soccer
Everyone who plays
any type of sport should consider wearing a mouthguard even if you are
participating in a non contact sport such as gymnastics, surfing, mountain
biking, skate boarding, racquetball, tennis, or golf. Kids and adults who play
field or ice hockey, baseball, lacrosse and even water polo will benefit from
wearing a mouth protector.
