Protect That Smile During Sports

Playing sports is good exercise, but you must take the necessary precautiosn to protect your body from injury. This is especially true for contact sports such as football, hockey and martial arts. You wear protective padding, but what about your teeth? It is just as important for you to protect your teeth while you are playing sports as it is for protecting the rest of your body.

Think about all the sports where you can get injured. They are not limited to football. How about a line drive coming right at your child during a baseball or softball game? Think about flying arms and legs in sports such as gymnastics, boxing, skateboarding, skydiving, surfing, volleyball and wrestling. If you or your child gets a blow to the head, you could be facing a missing or chipped tooth. To prevent this from happening, you need to protect your mouth with a mouth guard.

A mouth guard is an important part of keeping your teeth safe during any type of physical activity where you could get injured. If you are unsure about the type of mouth guard to buy, here are some common guards that can help keep your teeth safe.

Stock guards: These guards are generally inexpensive and come packaged and ready to wear. All you do is place them in your mouth and go. They are quite bulky and are not adjustable. If these guards are all that are available, then use them; otherwise, find a better quality mouth guard.

Boil guards: These guards are very good and can be purchased where sporting supplies are sold. These usually fit better than a stock guard. To use these, you will be instructed to boil the guard in hot water to soften the plastic and while it is hot, you will place it in the mouth and bite down. This will make an impression of your teeth, giving you a more custom fit.

Custom fit protectors: If you play professional sports or wear orthodontics, then you may want to have a custom fit mouth guard. Most dentists can help you with a custom guard. Impressions of your teeth will be made and then the guard is made to fit your mouth. These offer the most comfortable fit and the best protection during contact sports.

If you do not wear a mouth guard and a tooth gets knocked out, there is hope. First of all, do not touch the root. This could permanently damage the tooth, whereas if you handle it by the top, it could be replaces. Next, despite what your first instincts are, do not clean or handle the tooth. Instead, place it back in the socket and bite down on a piece of gauze or clean cloth. If the socket is too injured, you can place it in a glass of milk or water. Then you must get to a dentist immediately. In many cases, if you follow these instructions, your dentist can work quickly to reinsert the tooth quite successfully. of the extra time and work involved, this custom-made mouth guard is more expensive than the other types, but it provides the most comfort and best fit and protection.