Dentures: Facts, Figures and Friendly Advice for Seniors

Arm Your Mouth to Brighten Up Your Sports Career

12 November 2019

Herman Kim

Have you used a mouth guard before and do you know why you need to wear it? Participating in sports such as boxing, hockey, football, rugby, weightlifting and martial arts without a mouth guard is dangerous. What's a mouthguard? It's a laminate device or soft plastic that sportspeople wear in their mouth so that they don't injure their tongue, cheeks, mouth, jaw and teeth while playing. So why is it mandatory to wear mouth guards before you participate in your favourite sport? Keep reading.

You Protect Your Oral Soft Tissues

A direct impact to your mouth or somewhere near it would cause bruised, cut or grazed gums and lips, or even significant bleeding if the impact was heavy. Mouthguards cover up or protect the sharp surfaces of your teeth, minimising the injuries that your soft tissues sustain. If your soft tissues are injured while playing, rinse your mouth with some salty water and apply pressure using a moist gauze piece for about 20 minutes. Contact your dentist if bleeding persists to help you deal with this emergency. A dentist will treat you and recommend the mouthguard you should wear next time you participate in a sport.

Your Teeth Won't Be Knocked Out

No one wants to imagine the pain they would feel when their tooth is knocked out when playing. However, this happens when you neglect simple preventive measures such as wearing a sports mouthguard. A dentist will save your knocked-out tooth if you contact them quickly, even though you won't experience this if you had a mouthguard. A knocked-out tooth leaves you with a large gap that affects your smile. This problem also causes trauma in children now that they need a space maintainer in their mouth.

You Keep Your Jaws Intact

Your teeth jar against each other when you receive a blow to your head. You then end up with a fractured jaw because you didn't wear a mouth guard to help you create more flexible space in the mouth. A fractured jaw is among the serious oral injuries you can sustain since you correct it through major surgery and take several months to rehabilitate. Wearing a mouth guard 'pads' your jaw, head and teeth and helps you to absorb and spread that impact that would have caused a serious mouth injury or jaw concussion. Jaw fractures have no quick-fix solutions and that's why you should always wear a mouthguard in any sport.

Wearing a mouth guard is a simple task that protects you from serious oral issues. Fractured bridgework or crowns, tooth root damage, cheek and lip injuries, concussions, broken or chipped teeth and fractured jaws are some of the oral injuries you sustain when you participate in sports without a mouthguard. Custom-fitted mouthguards are available and cost-effective, and that's why you shouldn't play without a mouthguard next time.

Share

Search