Football players wear padding to protect their bodies. Professional skateboarders wear helmets to protect their heads. So, what are the athletes wearing athletic mouthguards to protect your smiles?

Sports are great for exercise and for entertainment. Although everyone knows there is some risk of injury involved, participants in many sports take precautions to protect themselves as best they can.

At Kirchner Dental, we encourage you to do what you can to protect your family’s teeth and jaws. You can do that by practicing good dental hygiene, receiving professional cleanings at our office, and by wearing an athletic mouthguard during high-impact sports.

Visit our dentist office in Jeffersonville, IN, to get a custom-made mouthguard for yourself and your children. You don’t have to play for the Colts or the Pacers to protect your smile.

Make an appointment today to get your mouthguard by calling 812-913-6093 or contacting us online.

When Athletic Mouthguards Are Important

It probably won’t surprise you to learn that athletic mouthguards were developed for boxers. The benefits are pretty obvious in a sport in which people are trying to punch one another in the face.

Today, mouthguards are required for many others sports, such as football and wrestling that involve high levels of contact.

Both the American Dental Association and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommend wearing athletic mouthguards during any high-impact sport. Contact and combat sports certainly fit that definition. Sports that involve frequent changes in direction, frequent changes in speed, and frequent jumping are considered high-impact sports as well.

The impact of landing and quick movements can affect any and every joint in your body (including your jaw). The potential for falls or accidental collisions with other players or sports equipment is likely as well.

As football season is winding down, don’t discard your mouthguard. If you don’t have one, now is a good time to get one at Kirchner Dental.

Call us today if you would like to get a mouthguard for yourself or someone in your family, 812-913-6093.

Why Custom-Fitted Athletic Mouthguards Matter

Any mouthguard will provide some level of protection. However, a custom-fitted athletic mouthguard provides the most protection, according to the ADA and the AAPD.

Custom-fitted mouthguards are smaller than the boil-and-bite mouthguard you can get at a store. This makes them more comfortable to wear (which makes them more likely to be worn during practices and games). It also makes it easier for athletes to breathe and communicate with their coaches and teammates while wearing their mouthguards.

Are custom-fitted mouthguards more expensive than the store-bought mouthguards? Yes, but they are considerably less expensive than paying for having teeth replaced after they have been knocked out.

We want our patients to keep their smiles as long as possible. This is why we encourage them to do the things they should do to protect their teeth and jaws from injury.

Believe us, we would much rather see you soon to get a mouthguard made than to get a call reporting you need to see us as soon as possible because of a dental emergency like a broken or lost tooth.

A Word Of Caution About Athletic Mouthguards

Athletic mouthguards — and custom-made mouthguards in particular — will reduce your risk of having a serious orofacial injury. However, no mouthguard can prevent all injuries.

Just as a seat belt won’t prevent an accident from occurring, an athletic mouthguard isn’t going to stop a collision or a fall. What a mouthguard can do is minimize the effects of that impact.

This could mean the difference between a swollen lip and a broken tooth. This could be the difference between a sore jaw and a cracked tooth.

The ADA estimates that athletic mouthguards prevent more than 200,000 facial injuries annually.

In a recent survey, the National Youth Sports Safety Foundation forecast that more than 3 million teeth are lost to facial injuries annually. A separate survey by the American Association of Orthodontists found that 67 percent of parents reported that their child did not wear mouthguards while playing sports.

Play It Safe By Wearing Athletic Mouthguards

You can still wear a mouthguard even if it is not required for a particular sport. We’ve seen this become more common in basketball (even if some players make the mistake of chewing on their mouthguards).

We hope you and your family will take this simple step to protect your smiles. Contact Kircher Dental today to get one of our custom-fitted mouthguards.

Contact us online or call 812-913-6093 to make an appointment today.