Protecting Young Athletes: The Essential Role of Custom Mouthguards
Kids who take part in athletic activities—whether they’re playing on organized sports teams, bicycling, or just kicking a ball around—gain a host of well-documented health benefits. Yet inevitably, along with all the fun, the possibility of injury exists. Schaefer Dental Group encourages all young athletes in Lansing, Michigan to take appropriate precautions to protect their smiles.
How prevalent are sports-related dental injuries? In 2012, the National Youth Sports Safety Foundation forecast that more than 3 million teeth would be knocked out in youth sporting events that year. Among all the dental injuries we treat in children, it is estimated that over 25% are sports-related, and the majority of these involve the top front teeth.
Besides the immediate trauma, sports-related injuries can result in substantial cost—up to $20,000 over a lifetime to treat a missing permanent tooth. Yet there’s a simple and relatively inexpensive way to reduce the chance of dental injury in children: A properly-fitted, comfortable mouthguard, worn whenever playing sports where the possibility of orofacial injury exists.
Use the Right Equipment
You wouldn’t let your child play football without a helmet, yet kids playing basketball are 15 times more likely to sustain injuries to the mouth or face than football players! This difference is largely due to mandatory mouthguard use in football.
Mouthguards are required in only four school-based sports (football, ice hockey, lacrosse, and field hockey), yet basketball and baseball are associated with the largest number of dental injuries. The American Dental Association (ADA) estimates that athletes who don’t wear mouthguards are 60 times more likely to suffer dental injury than those who do. Other ADA-recommended sports include bicycling, soccer, skateboarding, wrestling, and volleyball.
What Type of Mouthguard Is Best?
The best mouthguard for your child is the one he or she actually wears, both at practice and on game day. The types generally fall into three categories:
- “Off-the-shelf” mouthguard: Available at many sporting goods stores. Offers minimal protection, often uncomfortable, and must be clenched, which can cause trouble breathing and speaking.
- The “boil and bite” mouthguard: Formed in the mouth after being immersed in hot water. Generally offers better protection than the first type, but may still be uncomfortable and often fails to offer full coverage of the teeth.
- A custom-made mouthguard: This is a piece of quality sports equipment that is custom fabricated for your child’s mouth using molds or impressions of the teeth. This type offers your child maximum protection and a superior level of comfort, which ensures compliance.
At the present time, when top-quality sports equipment for kids can run in the hundreds of dollars, it makes more sense than ever to invest in the proven protection of a professionally made, custom-fitted mouthguard.