Aside from dentistry, soccer is one of my other passions. I have played the game since I was four. Unfortunately over the last thirty-three years I have seen my fair share of injuries during game play and practice. I have had several friends lose teeth, fracture teeth, fracture jaws, and suffer concussions. My friends that have lost or broken teeth have had crowns, bridges, and implants to remedy the problem. Yet most of them have invested in an athletic mouth guard.
I would strongly recommend that any athlete, especially the young athlete, involved in contact sport consider a mouth guard. Not only is damage to a front tooth costly, but can also result in a lot of time spent in the dental chair over a lifetime. Most times these injuries can be lessened, if not totally prevented, by wearing a guard.
Case in point, during our game last Sunday two of my teammates actually suffered dental injuries. One player had a front tooth fractured thanks in part to an opposing player’s attempted overhead kick. The resultant broken tooth not only needed an all porcelain crown, but will need continued monitoring to insure that the tooth nerve doesn’t die from the trauma it suffered. Our second player suffered a mild concussion from another player’s head contacting his chin while jousting for a head ball. This type of injury could’ve been much worse, but even a mild concussion can make a person more susceptible to future concussions. Both injuries could’ve been prevented with a mouth guard. Mouth guards are very good at absorbing direct contact from an elbow, head, hand, foot, etc. Guards are also very effective in preventing concussion by acting as a shock absorber that prevents the jaw bone from crashing against the skull. While it is after the fact, both players are now fitted and committed to wearing their new athletic mouth guards.
Suwanee Dental Care currently fabricates mouth guards for the Gwinnett Gladiators hockey team and Georgia Force arena football teams. The mandatory wear for both sets of players has helped keep our dental emergencies to a minimum over the the last 6 years. If an athletic guard is something that interests you please contact our office for an evaluation.
Sicerely,
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