According to the American Dental Association (ADA), more than 200,000 oral injuries are prevented each year simply by wearing a mouth guard. Given how many people have dental injuries with sports it seems like wearing a mouth guard would be an essential piece of sports equipment for most athletes. While dental protection is required in most professional sports, guards are often neglected at lower levels. Also many people don’t realize that their sport may be a common activity that sends many people to the emergency room for dental facial trauma.
Sports That Recommend Dental Protection:
The ADA recommends that people participating in either practice or competition of the following sports should wear proper dental protection:
- Acrobatics
- Basketball
- Boxing
- Field hockey
- Football
- Gymnastics
- Handball
- Ice hockey
- Lacrosse
- Martial arts
- Racquetball
- Roller hockey
- Rugby
- Skateboarding
- Skiing
- Skydiving
- Soccer
- Squash
- Surfing
- Volleyball
- Water polo
- Weightlifting
- Wrestling
While sports protection may not be required for many of these sports, the statistics speak for themselves on how important this piece of sports equipment can be in preventing dental injury. If you find retail mouth guards uncomfortable, then consider getting a properly fitted or custom mouth guard which will reduce the discomfort. The fee for a properly fitted mouth guard is much less than fixing a dental sports injury or broken braces. Though our oral surgeons here at Tahoe Oral Surgery and Implant Center don’t provide custom fitted mouth guards, they DO want to see our mountain community continually healthy and active. Contact your dentist today to get a properly fitted mouth guard to keep your teeth safe.