Sports and Dental Health: Protecting Your Teeth During Physical Activity

Whether you are playing basketball, soccer, or any other high-impact sport, your teeth are probably the last thing on your mind—but they should be! It is easy to forget while focused on the game that physical activity, especially contact sports, can put your dental health at risk. More than you might think, these dental injuries in the form of chipped or cracked teeth or knocked out often cause agony and long-term damage when not addressed.

We’d love to help you save your smile even when you’re getting active at Palm Tree Dental. In the next blog, we’ll have the discussion about how sport connects to dental health; emphasis the importance of wearing protection in the mouth as well as tips on what’s good for your dental safety when you are physical.

Why Sports and Dental Health Connected?

Sports and dental health are much more related than you would have thought. According to the American Dental Association (ADA), sports-related injuries account for a large percentage of dental trauma, particularly in children and adolescents. Whether it is football, hockey, or just running around on the playground, there is always a risk of accidental falls, collisions, or contact with hard objects.

Common dental injuries from sports include

Some of them are minor and can easily be treated, while the others require intricate dental work in the way of root canals, crowns, or even tooth extractions. Fortunately, most of these can be prevented by observing proper precautions.

Protect Your Teeth

Teeth are very strong and resistant, but they can’t be indestructible. Even slight impacts will cause severe damage to your teeth, and the long-term effects of dental trauma can prove expensive in both financial and oral health terms.

This is why protecting your teeth during sports is so important:

Prevention is Key: A single tooth injury can have years of repair work with fillings, crowns, or implants. It is better to be more careful and preserve the dental structures now and avoid expensive repairs in the long run.

This therefore, includes some common forms of pain and discomfort linked with dental injuries such as having severe pain if the tooth cracked or knocked out, and sometimes, the pains may last for days or even weeks. This might cause difficulties in activities associated with eating, speaking or even enjoying physical activity.

This affects your self-confidence and low self-esteem in case it is a visible injury for example chipped front teeth. Taking care of your teeth is keeping your smile and your health intact together with your teeth.

How to Protect Your Teeth During Exercise

Fortunately, there are many straightforward ways to keep your teeth safe while remaining active. Below are the most effective methods of keeping your dental health safe during sports:

Wear a Mouth guard

The mouth guard is the most efficient means for the protection of the tooth during any form of sporting activity. Mouth guards work in a way to abduct and distribute the intensity of impact so that a tooth, gums, or jaw do not come severely damaged. It is really essential for sports where constant contact with another individual takes place, including but not limited to the following:

Football
Hockey
Basketball
Rugby
Soccer
Boxing
Martial arts

There are three types of mouth guards:

Stock Mouthguards: These are relatively cheap and can be bought in most sporting goods stores. Nevertheless, these mouthguards fit very poorly and may feel quite irritating.
Boil-and-Bite Mouthguards: These mouthguards are semi-custom in design. You place them in hot water, then mold the mouthguard to your shape. They will fit better than stock mouthguards, but they are not as protective as a custom-made mouthguard.
Custom-Fitted Mouthguards: The dentist can design a mouthguard molded to fit your unique dental anatomy. The best protection for you, most comfortable, and most durable, they are recommended especially for contact sports athletes or those with braces.

This has been supported by Palm Tree Dental, which highly encourages a custom-fitted mouth guard for all young athletes for the best and most appropriate protection, better comfort when performing, hence less breathing constriction during sports.

Maintain Hygiene around Your Teeth

Good oral hygiene will ensure healthy teeth, playing or not playing sports. Brushing and flossing will keep your teeth strong, which is vital in preventing tooth fractures. The chance of cracking or chipping when hitting something with your healthy teeth is minimal.

Brush at least twice a day with fluoride toothpaste and floss daily to remove plaque and food particles between your teeth.

You should visit your dentist at least once every six months to ensure your teeth are always in top condition When you engage in sports, your teeth undergo much stress, so they must always be clean and healthy.

Hydrate

Dehydration can affect your health even about your oral health. The moment you are physically active, drinking water flushes away food particles and bacteria causing plaque formation. This is very essential during sports because you might be exposed to sugary sports drinks or snacks. Water is the best fluid to hydrate while keeping your oral cavity in good health during physical activities.

Avoid Chewing on Hard Objects

Chewing on ice, pen, or hard candy subjects your teeth to risk. This is very important during any sporting activity when athletes can be susceptible to chewing the mouth guard or anything else during intense moments. Biting too hard on something can cause a crack or chip in your tooth, even break a tooth.

Protective Gear-Wear When Applicable

Besides mouthguards, other forms of protection can be helpful to prevent oral injuries. Added protections to the face and teeth during hockey and lacrosse games include face shields or cages. If you are involved in a high-risk sport, always wear your protective gear as advised, such as a helmet and face guard.

How to Act When You Suffer Oral Injury in Sports

Despite the best efforts, accidents can occur. In case you do experience a dental injury, here is what you should do first:

Knocked out tooth: Hold by the crown (the part that is usually exposed to the mouth). Rinse with water. Do not scrub. Try to reimplant it into the socket. If this is impossible, place the tooth in a cup of milk or saliva and go to see a dentist as soon as possible.

Damage your tooth by chipping or breaking it. Rinse your mouth with warm water and use a cold compress to help reduce swelling. You should seek a dentist as soon as possible to be evaluated and treated.

Injured gums. Clean the area with warm water and use a cold compress to help reduce swelling. For persistent bleeding, apply pressure on the area using a clean gauze and visit the dentist.

The sooner you can get professional help, the better the chances of saving or repairing your tooth.

Conclusion

Your teeth are vital for both function and aesthetics, and protection during exercise is important. Whether an athlete or a weekend game enthusiast, make sure you take the right precautions to protect your smile-starting with a custom-fitted mouthguard.

At Palm Tree Dental, we care for your oral health, whether on or off the field. When you are an athlete, a custom mouth guard may be in your future, or perhaps dental injury has already occurred – do not hesitate to get in touch with us. We’ll be here to help you maintain your healthy smile through all the games.