Did you know about 50% of children in the field of sports face dental injury before graduation? Currently there are only five sports that have been mandated to use probably fit in mouth guards. The sports include wrestling, ice hockey, field hockey, football, and lacrosse. It is important to know that untreated injuries may lead to more serious problems down the road. Let’s review the type of sports related dental injuries and how you can prevent and/or treat them.
Sports related dental injuries
Many high-contact sports such as baseball, hockey, football, etc. can lead to dental injuries that can be extremely painful. Having a mouth guard that fits properly can prevent a lot of the following dental injuries.
Cracked Teeth: While you may think of a cracked tooth as a chip tooth, it is not the same. A cracked tooth happens near the root of the truth it can cause discomfort and may lead to losing the tooth completely.
Fractured Roots: impact on the face near the jar can you cause the root of a tooth to fracture. This is different from a tooth that is cracked because the issue is with the part of the tooth that is under the gum. The injured person may not even notice they have a fractured route and may have serious infections or issues later in their lives.
Tooth Intrusion: Another serious sports related injury is the tooth intrusion. This injury happens when the tooth is pushed back into the jawbone. This can lead to serious damage of the roots, destruction of tooth pub, and if left untreated can result in tooth loss.
Avulsed Teeth: A common sports related injury is the complete dislocation of a tooth from its socket. The treatment for avulsed teeth is dental implants which can restore natural looking teeth.
When to Get Emergency Dental Help
All the injuries we have discussed thus far should be considered an emergency and you should seek dental care as soon as possible to prevent the problem from worsening. When you speak with your dentist explain what happened in detail so he or she can provide the best treatment options. If you are in pain, you should see the dentist immediately.
Prevention
The best way to prevent your teeth from injury is a mouthguard. This is a piece of athletic equipment that athletes wear over the top row their teeth while playing sports. Children participating in nontraditional team sport activities such as skateboarding or gymnastics should protect the teeth with a mouthguard as well.
