Why Should You Wear Sports Guards While Playing Sports?

Sports accidents are key factors behind dental trauma. A serious blow to the face during a game can lead to soft tissue injuries, tooth damage (chips, cracks, breaks, and knock-outs), head injuries, concussions, and more. These injuries often cause the need for complex and expensive treatments and even end your sports career. Fortunately, you can avoid them by wearing a sports mouth guard.

What is a Sports Mouthguard?

A sports mouthguard is a plastic device worn over the teeth like a dental tray. The guard acts as a shock absorber to impact from a ball, elbow, stick, or puck to the face. It also prevents the upper and lower teeth from crashing against each other, causing damage.

Each year, sports mouthguards prevent thousands of facial injuries, specifically dental trauma. Experts recommend wearing a sports guard during contact sports where there’s a higher risk of injuries. If you don’t wear a mouthguard during sports, you make yourself vulnerable to emergencies like:

• Tooth damage like chips, breaks, fractures, and knock-outs
• Nerve and root damage to the teeth
• Concussions
• Fractured jaws
• Lip and cheek injuries and bruising
• Damaged dental restorations like crowns and bridges

Who Should Wear Sports Guards?

Any athlete should wear a sports guard during sports. Specifically, you should wear a sports guard during high-impact sports like football, rugby, lacrosse, baseball, softball, basketball, volleyball, boxing, soccer, and martial arts.

You should also use a mouthguard if you participate in high-impact recreational activities like gymnastics, skateboarding, rollerblading, horseback riding, figure skating, and mountain biking. Visit our dentists in Quincy, MA, for a sports mouthguard.

Importance of Wearing a Mouthguard

Below are some of the benefits of wearing a mouthguard for sports:

• Protection against tooth fractures

One of the key benefits of wearing a dental mouthguard is preventing dental damage such as chips, breaks, and fractures. A damaged tooth can make you vulnerable to further dental issues like cavities, decay, or tooth loss. Saving such a tooth can cause the need for complex treatments like tooth crowns, root canals, extraction, and dental implants. Wearing a sports guard will protect your teeth from injuries and preserve your dental health.

• Prevent tooth loss

A big blow to the face or mouth can cause your tooth to fall completely or partially. Wearing a mouth guard cushions your teeth from these blows, preventing tooth knocked-outs. Fortunately, seeing your dentist quickly, preferably within less than one hour, can save your tooth. Be sure to preserve the tooth in a glass of milk or water.

• Mouthguards prevent soft tissue injuries

A direct blow to the mouth can also lead to soft issues injuries like cuts and bruises to the cheeks, lips, gums, and tongue. Soft tissue injuries are often signified by substantial bleeding and swelling. A sports guard covers up the teeth’s shape surfaces, thereby minimizing soft tissue injuries from tooth damage. If this happens, rinse your mouth with a mild salt water solution and apply gauze. You can manage pain with pain medication like ibuprofen and cold compress. For significant soft tissue injuries or pain, seek emergency treatment near you.

• Protect against head, jaw, and brain injuries

Apart from tooth damage, a blow to the face can lead to the jaw, head, and brain injuries. People who have experienced these injuries will often require complex surgeries and months of rehabilitation. Wearing a sports guard acts like padding that absorbs and spreads the impact of a blow, protecting you from dental trauma, jaw injuries, and even concussion.

Getting a Customized Mouthguard

When considering a mouthguard, getting a customized guard from your dentist near you is essential. The mouthguard is designed according to your specific mouth structure to ensure maximum comfort, protection, and durability. It allows you to breathe easily and perform better.

While you might want to go for more price-friendly ready-to-use mouthguards, they don’t always offer the best comfort and protection. Most of them are often bulky and ill-fitting, which can lead to difficulty breathing and even affect your performance.

Schedule an Appointment Today

Ready to get your custom-made sports guards in Quincy? Contact Quincy Dental Associates to book your appointment today.