Sports Dentistry 

FACTS:

• An athlete is 60 times more likely to sustain damage to the teeth when not wearing a protective mouth guard.
• Every athlete involved in contact sports has about a 10% chance per season of an orofacial injury.
• It is estimated face guards and mouth guards prevent approximately 200,000 injuries each year in college and high school football.
• The stock mouth guard bought at sports stores with out any professional fitting provides a low level of protection, if any. If the wearer is rendered unconscious, there is a risk of the mouth guard may lodge in the throat causing an airway obstruction.
• The American Dental Association recommends wearing custom mouth guards for the following sports: basketball, baseball, boxing, hockey, football, gymnastics, handball, lacrosse, martial arts, racquetball, rugby, skateboarding, skiing, soccer, squash, volleyball, weightlifting and wrestling.
• 95% of all orofacial injuries is preventable with proper laminated custom-made mouth guards.
• It is impossible to make a boil and bite or stock mouth guard that fits or stays in.
• Kids have - orthodontic brackets, mixed dentition, appliances, clefts and spaces or decay.
• Custom laminated mouth guards give kids - the competitive edge, excellent fit, easier breathing, decreased fatigue, much clearer speech and increased strength.
• Orofacial injury is the most common injury in sports.
• 80% effect the front 4 teeth.
• Over 40% of all orofacial injuries occur in basketball.
• Boil and bite does not provide a balanced bite.
• Results in increased incidence of jaw fractures and concussions.
• 8 million teeth will be knocked out this year

Long Term Consequences to Orofacial Injuries

• Concussions impart cumulative damage, resulting in increased severity and duration with each incident. After an initial episode there is a 4x greater chance of a subsequent injury.
• A broken tooth is likely to cost between 10-15 thousand dollars to a child over a lifetime.
• Teeth do not regenerate. Once a tooth is broken the tooth is committed to repair for the rest of the person's life.
• Not only can teeth be broken; the jawbone is often as well requiring bone reconstruction.

Mouth guards help protect the jawbone and help prevent concussion. Type IV Mouth guards are reinforced where it is needed, they will fit like a glove. The mouth guard minimizes wear fatigue, and has been shown to increase personal strength. the bite is carefully balanced to provide for even distribution of force on impact.