Should your child wear a mouthguard?

Should your child wear a mouthguard?

Making sure your child brushes their teeth and eats right aren’t the only things you can do to ensure your child is healthy… you should also make sure they wear a mouthguard during sport activities!

As a parent, you have the best interests of your child at heart. When you don’t let them have lollies you’re protecting their teeth, when you don’t let them leave the house without a jumper you’re making sure they stay warm and don’t catch a cold. So if parents take all these precautions to keep their children safe and healthy, why do so many parents let their children head on to the court or field without a mouthguard which could potentially end with them in the emergency room?

“My child refuses to wear them”

Children, especially as they get older, begin to refuse to wear things like helmets and mouthguards as they think they will make them look ‘uncool’. While mouthguards may always appear as ‘uncool’, you can still try and educate your child so that they fully understand the risks of not wearing a mouthguard. For instance you could show your child examples of dental accidents or you could try showing them positive role models that also wear mouthguards such as professional football players.

If your child refuses to wear a mouthguard for other reasons (such as discomfort) then the mouthguard itself may be the issue. Here at Westpoint Dental Clinic in Blacktown we can create custom-fitted mouthguards that will fit perfectly with your child’s smile for ultimate protection.

Do mouthguards really make a big difference?

The statistics are there to prove that dental accidents happen more often than you think. According to betterhealth.vic.gov.au cycling, skateboarding and scooter riding account for 44% of dental injuries, while football, basketball, netball, cricket and soccer account for 14%, which is surprising in comparison. The main difference between the different sporting activities is that the first group involve concrete and roads which are hard surfaces and can worsen your risk of dental injury.

Statistics are also there to prove that mouthguards do make a difference. There are two studies, one which states that mouthguards can decrease dental injury risk by up to 1.9 times1, and one which states that collegiate basketball players suffered significantly less dental injuries when they wore mouthguards during their games2.

Adults – don’t forget about your smile

According to most studies age does not play a role when it comes to your dental injury risk factor. This is why we recommend that our patients always wear a mouthguard during contact sport and other sports to prevent injury.

Remember that not only could you save your smile from pain and trauma, but you may also be saving hundreds or thousands of dollars on potential complications from dental trauma such as jaw surgery or restorative dental care.

To find out more about our custom-fitted mouthguards please don’t hesitate to contact the team at Westpoint Dental Clinic in Blacktown, Western Sydney.


 

References:

1ADA Council on Access, Prevention and Interprofessional Relations; ADA Council on Scientific Affairs. Using mouthguards to reduce the incidence and severity of sports-related oral injuries. JADA 2006;137(12):1712-20.

2Labella CR, Smith BW, Sigurdsson A. Effect of mouthguards on dental injuries and concussions in college basketball. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2002;34(1):41-4.

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