As a parent, you want your son or daughter to stay active, so you may encourage them to participate in sports. While this is a great way for your child to have fun while staying healthy, it’s important to consider the wellbeing of their smile as well. A chipped or knocked-out tooth can sideline your little one for the season, and they may need extensive dental repair too. Your Painesville dentist explains how you can help your child avoid a dental emergency with a sports mouthguard.
Prevention is the Best Medicine
The best way to keep your child’s oral health in check and their growing smile strong is to prevent dental emergencies. Playing sports without a mouthguard can quickly result in:
- Laceration: Your child’s teeth are sharp. If they fall, take a blow to the face, or accidentally bite their tongue, they can easily cause a deep cut in their soft tissues and excessive bleeding.
- Chipped or cracked teeth: Visibly damaged teeth can be a painful and overwhelming experience for your child. However, they may also damage their teeth without realizing it, which can lead to serious infections over time.
- Knocked-out teeth: If a child’s tooth is knocked out, they need to see a dentist within 30 minutes for the best chances of successful reattachment. It’s important to keep baby teeth from being lost prematurely, as that can lead to crooked or impacted permanent teeth.
How Sports Mouthguards Work
While not every accident can be avoided, sports mouthguards reduce the risk of a dental emergency as your child plays their sport. These U-shaped plastic dental devices are designed to fit comfortably over your little one’s top and bottom teeth to:
- Protect teeth from damage: A mouthguard shields the teeth underneath from impact, which helps keep them in place and stay firmly intact.
- Prevent top and bottom teeth from crashing together: To protect your child’s teeth from each other, a mouthguard forms a durable barrier between the upper and lower teeth.
- Safeguard the soft tissues and tongue: Since the teeth are encased in the mouthguard, they can’t bite down or injure the soft tissues or gums.
Custom Mouthguards Are Worth the Investment
Many parents wonder if an over-the-counter sports mouthguard will work just as well as a custom-fit one from their child’s dentist. A “boil and bite” mouthguard from your local grocery store or pharmacy will provide basic protection for your little one’s smile, but they can be ill-fitting and are unsuitable for long-term use or withstanding strong forces. On the other hand, a mouthguard from a dentist is precisely crafted to fit all the crevices of every tooth for optimal safety and comfort. Not only will they be easier for your son or daughter to wear while playing sports, but they will provide more reliable protection and last much longer as well.
Don’t jeopardize your child’s precious smile with a store-bought product. Instead, keep their pearly whites safe while they stay active with a custom-fit mouthguard from your Painesville dentist.
About the Practice
At Painesville Dental Group, we are proud to offer high-quality, long-lasting sports mouthguards to keep your child’s mouth as safe as possible as they play. However, should they have a dental emergency, don’t hesitate to contact our highly experienced dental team. They have the years of experience and state-of-the-art technology needed to provide urgent dental care as quickly, efficiently, and comfortably as possible. If you are experiencing a dental emergency or would like to learn more about mouthguards, they can be reach via their website or at (440) 354-2183.