Dental injuries are the most frequent facial injuries, which happen usually due to sports activities. The injury may range from fractured teeth, fractured jaw, and injury to the nerve or loss of teeth. Sports injuries can cause concussion, which can happen due to an impact to the base of the skull via a blow to the chin. In these type of injuries wearing a mouth guard could have a significant preventative role. It has been reported that mouth guards relieve the stress concentrated on the front teeth in a frontal collision by absorbing and dispersing some of the shock energy quickly stopping the vibration of the upper teeth. Custom fitted mouth guards reduce the incidence of concussion as well as dental and jaw injuries.
Unfortunately, the public is largely uninformed about the serious consequences of sports trauma as well the methods of prevention. Sports injuries can range from the considerable pain and expense in replacing a lost tooth to the greater impairment and cost resulting from a concussion that can end a sports career.
Mouth guards help in the following ways:
- Prevent bruising and laceration of the soft tissues of the lips and cheek.
- Prevent tooth fractures and dislocations.
- Opposing teeth are protected from contacting each other.
- Protect against jaw fracture.
- Prevent or reduce nerve injuries.
- Prevent neck injuries.
- Makes athletes to feel more confident.
Every year hospitals in the United States see thousands of cases of lost or damaged teeth as a result of sports injury. An athlete is 60 times more likely to damage the teeth when not wearing a protective mouth guard. Mouth guards and face guards prevent an estimated 200,000 high school and college football injuries. Most serious and life threatening sports injury is concussion to the brain. The total cost to replace a lost tooth can be 20 times more than the cost of a custom made mouth guard. Mouth guards can be custom made in the dental office.
