Have you or your child recently started playing a contact sport? If so, you may be wondering if you should invest in a sports guard or mouth protector. Sports guards fit over your teeth and are made of flexible plastic to help provide cushion and shock absorption. Wearing a sports guard is recommended to protect your teeth and jaw from injury during activities when impact to the jaw or head is possible.
Here are 3 benefits of a sports guard to help you decide when wearing one may be helpful:
Dental injuries are the most common type of facial injury. The National Youth Sports Foundation estimates that dental damage is 60 times more likely for athletes who don’t wear a sports guard. The American Dental Association also estimates that over 200,000 oral and dental injuries are avoided each year with the use of sports guards.
During contact sports, teeth might be chipped, broken, jarred out of alignment or even knocked out and lost, leading to the need for expensive and uncomfortable dental procedures. A sports guard can be a simple and cost effective way to help minimize the risk of injury and the need for treatment.
Not only can a sports guard protect your teeth, but another of the benefits of a sports guard is that it has been shown to help protect athletes from concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries by helping to absorb the shock of a blow to the head or jaw. With increasing research and awareness in recent years of the short and long term impact of concussions and traumatic brain injuries, sports guards along with other protective gear like helmets and face guards are being required more and more for contact sports.
Even when it is not required, though, as it still isn’t for some contact sports with high risk of impact, it is always a good idea to go with your dentist or doctor’s recommendation to wear a sports guard during activities that put you at risk of trauma or injury to your head, jaw or mouth.
You might think that if you have braces or other dental implants that it’s not as important to wear a sports guard because a tooth may be less likely to be knocked out, but this is a common misconception. Your teeth and jaw can still be injured and it is also important to protect your dental appliances from damage that can happen during contact sports and may require expensive repair or replacement.
Benefits of a sports guard can also include protecting your lips and cheeks from being cut or bruised by the edges of your braces or other dental appliances during impact while playing sports.
Sports guards come in a variety of colors, styles and price points. Ready to wear sports guards are available at most sporting goods stores and are a great option, but your dentist can also help fit you with a custom mouth guard that may be more comfortable because it will be molded to fit to the shape of your teeth and mouth.
Ask your dentist for more information about which type of sports guard is best for your needs and when you should wear one to ensure you receive the most benefit from the sports guard of your choice.
Call our Midland Dental Office to make an appointment with a dentist who may be able to help you find out more about this topic, and improve your oral health.
Please call us at 432-218-4389 or fill out the form below to request an appointment.
Have you or your child recently started playing a contact sport? If so, you may be wondering if you should invest in a sports guard or mouth protector. Sports guards fit over your teeth and are made of flexible plastic to help provide cushion and shock absorption. Wearing a sports guard is recommended to protect […]
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Dear Patient:
We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. Our community has been through a lot over the last few months and all of us are looking forward to resuming our normal habits and routines, although normal may have a new meaning. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your safety. Based on guidelines from Governor Abbott and the Texas State Dental Board, we will return for patient care on May 5th 2020. Until then, we will provide emergency care.
Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice and you may have seen this during your visits to our office. Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it’s both safe and comfortable. We want to tell you about the infection control procedures we follow in our practice to keep patients and staff safe.
Our office follows infection control recommendations made by the American Dental Association (ADA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We follow the activities of these agencies so that we are up-to-date on any new rulings or guidance that may be issued. We do this to make sure that our infection control procedures are current and adhere to each agencies’ recommendations.
You may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We made these changes to help protect our patients and staff. For example:
• Our office will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions. You’ll be asked those same questions again when you are in the office. Please, for safety of others, be honest with your answers.
• We have hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the office. You will also find some in the reception area and other places in the office for you to use as needed.
• You will be provided a mask to use while waiting in our office if you do not have one.
• Your temperature will also be taken upon arrive in our office.
• You may see that our waiting room will no longer offer magazines and so forth, since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect. To comply with social distancing, seating will be limited.
• You will be asked not to bring anyone with you to the appointment unless absolutely necessary. If you do not have childcare, then your appointment will need to be rescheduled to a later date.
• You may be asked to wait in your vehicle and check in by phone call or text. If you bring someone with you, they will be asked to wait in your vehicle
• Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
• We will do our best to allow greater time between patients to reduce waiting times for you, as well as to reduce the number of patients in the reception area at any one time.
We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you, and every patient, safe in our practice. To make an appointment, please call our office at (432)687-0041 or visit our website at www.myhealthcentereddentistry.com.
Thank you for being our patient. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors and friends.
Sincerely,
Dentist and Team
Dear Patient:
We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. Our community has been through a lot over the last few months and all of us are looking forward to resuming our normal habits and routines, although normal may have a new meaning. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your safety. Based on guidelines from Governor Abbott and the Texas State Dental Board, we will return for patient care on May 5th 2020. Until then, we will provide emergency care.
Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice and you may have seen this during your visits to our office. Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it’s both safe and comfortable. We want to tell you about the infection control procedures we follow in our practice to keep patients and staff safe.
Our office follows infection control recommendations made by the American Dental Association (ADA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We follow the activities of these agencies so that we are up-to-date on any new rulings or guidance that may be issued. We do this to make sure that our infection control procedures are current and adhere to each agencies’ recommendations.
You may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We made these changes to help protect our patients and staff. For example:
• Our office will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions. You’ll be asked those same questions again when you are in the office. Please, for safety of others, be honest with your answers.
• We have hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the office. You will also find some in the reception area and other places in the office for you to use as needed.
• You will be provided a mask to use while waiting in our office if you do not have one.
• Your temperature will also be taken upon arrive in our office.
• You may see that our waiting room will no longer offer magazines and so forth, since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect. To comply with social distancing, seating will be limited.
• You will be asked not to bring anyone with you to the appointment unless absolutely necessary. If you do not have childcare, then your appointment will need to be rescheduled to a later date.
• You may be asked to wait in your vehicle and check in by phone call or text. If you bring someone with you, they will be asked to wait in your vehicle
• Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
• We will do our best to allow greater time between patients to reduce waiting times for you, as well as to reduce the number of patients in the reception area at any one time.
We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you, and every patient, safe in our practice. To make an appointment, please call our office at (432)687-0041 or visit our website at www.myhealthcentereddentistry.com.
Thank you for being our patient. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors and friends.
Sincerely,
Dentist and Team
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