Should you wear a mouthguard?
Mouthguards can lessen the damage by dental trauma, preventing more severe, catastrophic outcomes.
Mouthguards have been shown to prevent tooth fractures and tooth avulsions (tooth coming out of the socket). Although dental injuries can still occur with mouthguards, it is important to note that mouthguards can act as a protective splint and keep teeth in place, lessening the damage.
Mouthguards can also play a role in preventing concussions. Studies report a risk reduction in concussions around 19% with the use of mouthguards in rugby, basketball, and ice hockey. This suggestion has spurred a vast amount of radical research investigating the effects of the shock absorptive properties of mouthguards in preventing concussions.
So why doesn’t everyone wear one?
Common complaints by athletes is that mouthguards cause problems with communicating, breathing, or appearance (Petrovic et al., 2017). Some choose not to wear them due to being uncomfortable, and some athletes are not aware of their benefits. The answer lies in a custom-made, dentist-fitted mouthguard, since they’d adapt closely to an athlete’s mouth.
Since dentist-fitted mouthguards are tailored and contoured to an athelete’s mouth, the close fit minimises problems with communication and breathing. Athletes can speak more clearly and the mouthguard will feel less intrusive when made by a dentist.
A mouthguard can be a great investment in protecting your smile. So ask one of our friendly staff members at Central Park Dentist about our custom-fitted mouthguards.
Call us at 02 6153 3134 or Book Online.
Further Reading:
1. American Dental Assocation (2006). Using mouthguards to reduce the incidence and severity of sports-related oral injuries. The Journal of the American Dental Association, 137(12), 1712-1720.
2. Bergman, L., Milardović Ortolan, S., Žarković, D., Viskić, J., Jokić, D., & Mehulić, K. (2017). Prevalence of dental trauma and use of mouthguards in professional handball players. Dental traumatology.
3. Emery, C. A., et al. (2017). What strategies can be used to effectively reduce the risk of concussion in sport?. Br J Sports Med, bjsports-2016.
4. Petrović, M., Kühl, S., Šlaj, M., Connert, T., & Filippi, A. (2016). Dental and general trauma in team handball. Swiss dental journal, 126(7-8), 682-686.