Shelby Twp Dentist Explains why Athletic Mouth Guards are Important
Hi, my name is Dr. Robert Antolak, at thegentledentist.com located in Shelby Township, Michigan. Our website is thegentledentist.com, and the phone number is 586-247-3500.
Athletic mouth guards are very important for not only children to use, but also adults in contact sports. And I want to just discuss that a little bit, about these athletic mouth guards.
Most of them are soft, something like this. We can custom-make them at our office, where we take an impression of your teeth. Then we do what’s called a Vacuform, where it actually sucks down this piece of plastic sheave of rubber down around the teeth. Then we trim it up and make it so that it comes out to be something like this.
You can also get them at any sports store. There’s some really good brands that do a very fine job of protecting the teeth.
There are a couple of factors that affect an athletic mouth guard. One thing is, it has to be comfortable to wear. The reason I say that is, you don’t want the player to be focusing on the problem of this not fitting correctly. You want them to be able to be comfortable with it. So that is something that you wear without even thinking about it. Personally, I play quite a bit of hockey and I always wear a mouth guard. I’ve had mine for a couple of years now, and because it’s custom made, I literally don’t even know it’s in my mouth anymore. You use it, it functions great and it’s there to protect.
But the store bought ones are pretty good too. Under Armour makes a really good quality mouth guard that will help protect your teeth in case there’s any type of contusion, accident or trauma that takes place.
The reason why a mouth guard works is, the area between to the biting surface of the bottom teeth and the top teeth is soft and it protects and gives it a little bit of a cushion. That not only helps protect the teeth from potential damage, but it also actually protects one from getting a concussion.
I’ve taken a recent course on this. It was stated that the reason why concussions are actually more common in soccer is because as the lower jaw comes up, giving a header, the lower jaw hits the top teeth. And what happens then, is that it can transfer all that into the skull, to the brain and create a concussion. So, mouth guards are important in almost all contact sports.
Even though there are sports like basketball where it’s not really accepted, so far, or even soccer for that matter, it is important. My son who is thirteen years old has a mouth guard that I made for him, that he wears. The reason why it’s important for him to wear it is because he has short roots on his teeth and one blow would cause them to fall out. So, it’s important to be protective in the summer and even the wintertime playing sports. Be careful by using something to help protect your teeth and prevent concussions.
Shelby Twp Dentist Explains why Athletic Mouth Guards are Important
If you would like more information about athletic mouth guards, contact our Shelby Twp dental office at 586-247-3500, thegentledentist.com. Thank you.