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Article from Maxilla to Mandible
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Did you know that over 25 million youths participate in competitive school sports,
with sports accounting for 36% of injuries to this group? Factors for overall
injury risk include violent body contact, body size, growth, state of mind,
physical fitness, athlete's experience, personality, lack of skilled coaching,
condition of playing field or court and the fit of safety equipment. Surprisingly,
individual sports injuries are generally more severe than those in team sports,
while the total number of injuries in team sports is greater.
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Risk factors for orofacial injuries include age (the older, the higher the risk),
gender (boys are more prone than girls) and orthodontics. The type of sports also
plays a role: soccer and basketball have higher injury rates.
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Properly fitted mouthguards are designed to protect the mouth from bruises and
lacerations on the teeth from crown fractures, root fractures, dislocations and
evulsions. Also, they protect the jaws from fractures and dislocations.
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The ADA (American Dental Association) and the Academy of Sports Dentistry
recommend the use of mouthguards for 30 different sports. They classify the
guards into 3 types: stock mouthguards; mouth formed guards: and custom fabricated
mouthguards. These custom guards require two dental visits and a laboratory
session to achieve proper fit.
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PRIVACY