How Dental Mouthguards Prevent Dental Injuries?

According to the Australian Dental Association, almost 40% of all childhood dental injuries are due to sporting activities. While it may be impossible to stop our children from playing, taking the necessary precautions, such as giving them the right protective gear, is necessary. Mouth guards serve as the best gear to protect them from dental injury. A custom-fitted mouth guard can reduce the risk of injuries such as broken teeth and injuries to the lips, tongue and jawbone not only to children but also adults.

This article takes a look at how mouth guards prevent dental injuries.

What are Mouth guards?

First things first, mouth guards are referred to as sports guards, which are rubber-like covers designed to fit over the teeth to provide them with support and prevent dental injuries. Some of these dental injuries include:

• Root fractures
• Crown fractures
• Avulsions and luxation
• Lips and intraoral tissues from bruising and laceration
• The jaw from dislocations and fracture

There are several types of mouth guards, including custom-fitted, boil and bite and stock. The dentist makes Custom-fitted mouth guards and they are the most comfortable. Boil and bite are softened by boiling them in water, then you bite them in position and allow them to get back into their original shape. Stocks are the ready to wear mouth guards

How Mouth Guards Helps to Protect You from Dental Injuries

Prevention is always better than cure. A mouth guard is now an important necessity in any sporting activity as it will help you protect the potential dental injury. It can also help prevent potential brain injury, which is particularly important in your well being. Although mouth guards are primarily meant to protect the teeth, they also reduce the force from the point of impact.

Mouth guards will act as shock absorbers. They will absorb and diffuse shock, providing caution to different parts of the mouth. They will help you prevent both the health of your smile and aesthetic appearance.

Mouth Guard Features

It is important to wear a mouth guard with the right features during sporting activities so that it can protect you the way it is supposed to. The appliance should be custom fitted specifically for you so that it can serve the intended purpose. A protective mouth guard should:

• Allow normal breathing and swallowing
• Be comfortable yet tight-fitting
• Not cause gagging
• Be thick enough to provide the right protection against injury (4 mm)
• Be odourless and Tasteless
• Allow normal speech

Bottom Line

Custom fitted mouth guard by your dentist can significantly reduce the risk of dental injuries. Some of the common causes of injury include sporting, recreational and leisure activities. Dental injuries can not only be costly to treat but may also result in a lot of pain. Therefore, any time you are engaging in such activities, it is important that you wear a custom fitted mouth guard by your dentist.

Contact us at Springvale Dental Clinic today to find out more about how mouth guards can help prevent dental injuries. You will also learn more about how to use them as well as dental mouth guard costs.