Why Our James Island Dentist Recommends All Athletes Wear Mouth Guards

Sports players that want to be safe when playing contact sports should always use dental mouth guards. Teenagers often play sports like football, hockey, and even baseball that have a potential to damage a player’s teeth in a variety of ways. In many of these sports, players at risk are made to wear a helmet to increase safety to the head. Since adults only get one set of adult teeth, it is important to wear dental mouth guards to keep it safe while playing dangerous sports.

Most players that play contact sports won’t experience an injury, but that still does not mean it can’t happen. Every day, sports players that think it can’t happen are faced with the cold reality of the allegedly-impossible happening to them. Over the years, our James Island dentist office has witnessed first-hand the unfortunate effects of not taking basic precautions to prevent unnecessary mouth injuries. These injuries can happen to anyone and can come from a wide range of sports. Any sport that involves physical contact between players or solid balls should require that all players use the proper mouth protection.

An injury that breaks teeth can be a traumatic experience that can haunt sports players and their families for a lifetime. The acute nature of tooth cracking, splitting, or outright removal can be extremely painful without anesthesia. With long waits at emergency rooms, players will often have to endure this pain for many hours before finally getting treated. While some teeth can be saved if immediate action is taken, there is still no guarantee that the tooth can survive. This can necessitate future amputation and replacement with artificial teeth that can be very expensive. Many insurance plans do not cover these types of injuries, and can leave families picking up expensive bills from their local dentist office.

Thankfully, all of these problems can be eliminated with a simple mouth guard. Players subjected to mouth injuries can simply take the precaution of getting dental mouth guards that protects teeth from damage. By getting the right protection from the start, contact sport players can enjoy their activities without having to make unnecessary trips to their local dentist offices.

Talk to our local James Island dentist about getting a mouth guard that will keep sports players out of harm’s way.