According to JADA (Journal of the American Dental Association), up to 39% of dental injuries are sports related. These injuries most often impact the top front teeth. How can your child avoid such dental injuries that lead to them missing school, you missing work and having to pay to replace a missing tooth? A custom fitted mouthguard is a simple and affordable way to prevent dental injuries.
The Benefits
Mouthguards have become a requirement for most children playing football. This requirement has led to a dramatic drop in dental injuries related to football.
Sadly, children playing basketball are fifteen times more likely to have a face or mouth injury than children playing football? This is because most children playing basketball are not required to wear a mouthguard.
With this in mind, the American Dental Association (ADA) recommends children wear a mouthguard for a wide variety of activities including: football, basketball, baseball, soccer, wrestling, bicycling, skateboarding and volleyball. Studies show that children not wearing mouthguards when participating in such activities are 60 times more likely to experience a dental injury.
Mouthguard Options
Here are 3 of the most common types of mouthguards on the market:
- Off the Shelf Mouthguard – These mouthguards can be found in most sporting good stores or retail outlets. They come in a variety of sizes and levels of quality. This is the least expensive type of mouthguard. While they do provide a small level of protection, they are often uncomfortable since they are not customized to your child’s mouth.
- Boil and Bite Mouthguard – These mouthguards are somewhat customizable and can be purchased at sporting good stores or retail outlets. To adjust a boil and bite mouthguard, it is immersed in hot water to make it somewhat flexible. It is then molded and shaped within your mouth. While offering slightly better protection than off the shelf mouthguards, they are still found to be uncomfortable and often don’t cover all of your teeth.
- Custom Mouthguard – Your Auburn dentist will first take an impression of your child’s teeth and send this impression to a lab. The lab will then craft a resilient, high-quality mouthguard that will perfectly fit your child’s mouth. This custom fitted mouthguard is not only the most comfortable option, it also provides the highest level of protection. This is all provided at a very reasonable cost.
With a high quality, custom fit mouthguard, you can have the comfort and peace of mind knowing that your child’s dental well being is protected for years to come! Schedule a customized mouthguard consultation for your child today.