Although it has been proven worldwide that introducing your child to sports at a young age can be very beneficial to them and their development—mentally, physically, and emotionally—there are some repercussions that can take place.
Of course, every parent’s worst fear when it comes to having a child enter sports (especially when it’s a contact sport) is going to be that their child might get hurt. Not only can this be painful to see or experience, but this can be hard on your wallet or insurance, as well.
And although the first things that may come to your mind are broken bones, you often don’t think about a common sports injury found in the face—your mouth and your teeth. Especially when there are balls involved or physical contact, there is a pretty big chance that your child or you will, at one point, take a hit to the face!
To help protect those pearly whites, your local Calgary dentist, Dr. Sopruniuk is here to present you with some things you can do to protect your teeth while playing sports (for adults, too)!
In this article, we’re going to give you a few tips to help you best protect your mouth and the mouth of your children while doing sports.
- Be proactive with your gear. Whether its mouth guards, helmets or other oral protective devices, wearing them while at-play or enforcing your children to wear them (especially if they have braces or other orthodontic appliances) can help keep your teeth and your mouth safe.
In order to ease the discomfort of wearing a mouth guard, you’ll want to look into getting a moldable one that can fit the form of your own mouth, which can make it less bulky and better to breathe. This customized mouth guard can easily be made in your dentist office.
If you have a stubborn child that simply refuses to wear a mouthguard, you can even talk to your child’s coach or the league about making the mouth guard necessary in high-contact sports.
Wearing a helmet is also highly beneficial—not only for your teeth but also for your head—and you don’t have to play a ball-sport either. If you’re skateboarding or snowboarding, biking or even playing ice hockey, all these sports would best be done with a helmet.
- If you have the option to choose where your child will play, go with the more shock-absorbing material. Especially if your child is younger, speak to the league about adding more shock-absorbing material within the necessary equipment—for example, from the ground to the goal posts or other hard poles. You can get creative, wrapping them foam or offering some sort of cushion for impact.
Field sports that are better maintained and contain more grass are also going to be best for the risk of a mouth injury as well as the potential hard impact of running or falling on a harder surface.
- Teaching and promoting safe play can also be a great idea. Not only should you encourage wearing protective equipment, but safe play can also help prevent oral or dental injuries—especially if you’re engaging in a physical contact sport.
Although physical contact is encouraged in some sports, there are ways to do so intelligently, which should be carried on during play. It’s also always best if you can have a coach or some sort of referee/umpire supervising the game so there is always safe and fair play going on. This can help minimize the risk of getting injured in general—but especially in the mouth.
A final note? Just because a sport you or your child is playing is non-contact (for example, let’s say tennis or baseball), it doesn’t mean that your teeth are one hundred percent safe!
There is always a chance that you can take a ball to your face and possibly injure your teeth or your mouth. Therefore, taking the necessary precautions to protect your teeth during sports is very much encouraged—no matter what sport you’re playing!
We hope you have found all of these tips helpful when looking to protect your teeth or the teeth of your child (or players) while playing sports—both contact and non-contact!