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Protecting one’s smile is important at any age. This is especially true for people who participate in contact sports or other activities where a trauma to the mouth can occur. While we all tend to believe that we are safe and that injuries “only happen to other people,” we could not be further from the truth. Take, for example, Jillian Michaels, an accomplished author, business mogul, wellness expert, trainer and star of The Biggest Loser. She learned this invaluable lesson after breaking her two front teeth as a child and having them repaired with crowns. As Jillian stated in her interview with Dear Doctor magazine, “Now, I generally wear a mouthguard if I am doing anything where my teeth have any chance of being knocked out.”

We feel obligated to educate our patients so that you can make informed decisions about your oral health. This is why we put together the following brief list of research findings.

Did you know?

• According to the American Dental Association, an athlete is 60 times more likely to suffer harm to the teeth when not wearing a mouthguard.
• The US Centers for Disease Control reports that sports-related dental injuries account for more than 600,000 visits to the emergency room each year.
• People who do not have a knocked-out tooth properly reserved or replanted may face a lifetime cost of $10,000 to $20,000 per tooth, according to the National Youth Sports Foundation for Safety.
• The Academy of General Dentistry estimates that mouthguards prevent more than 200,000 injuries each year.

If feel you and/or your children need a custom-fitted, professionally made mouthguard, contact us today to schedule an appointment. During your private consultation, we will conduct a thorough examination, listen to your concerns, and answer all of your questions as we discuss the best methods for protecting your investment — your own, or your children’s, teeth.

To learn more about mouthguards, continue reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Athletic Mouthguards, One of the most important parts of any uniform!” And to read the entire interview with Jillian Michaels, please see the article “Jillian Michaels — The Biggest Loser’s health and wellness expert talks about her oral health, keeping fit and plans for the future.”

Your lower jaw is an integral part of eating, speaking and other tasks involving the mouth. But what happens if you suffer an injury to one of the two joints that connect it to the skull? The result could be serious pain and the inability to bring the upper and lower teeth together properly.

The exact types of injuries causing the pain and disability can vary, like the displacement of a tooth or a group of teeth. Another is swelling in the joint space that prevents the head of the joint (the condyle) from fully seating in the joint space; you could also experience a joint dislocation as the condyle is forced completely out of the joint space. Either swelling or dislocation can prevent the back teeth on the side of the affected joint from fitting together properly.

Another traumatic injury is a fracture of the bone at or near the joint; one of the most common is known as a “sub-condylar” fracture where the break occurs just below the condyle and results in more severe pain than inflammation or dislocation. A more serious fracture may involve the joint itself.

To treat the symptoms properly, it’s important to determine which of these injuries has occurred. This requires a full examination, including x-ray imaging, to determine if the injury involves soft tissue, bone or both. In the case of inflammation, we would prescribe anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxant medication. The latter is especially helpful because trauma often leads to muscle spasms that lock the jaw in place to reduce further damage (nature’s splint, if you will). A dislocation may also require gentle manipulation to seat the condyle back into the joint.

Fractures are treated generally by repositioning the broken portions of the bone into their normal position and then immobilizing them while they heal. Immobilization is accomplished by joining the upper and lower teeth together, either by external or internal means. The latter option requires a surgical procedure.

If you’ve suffered an injury that results in any of these symptoms you should contact our office immediately. Only a complete diagnosis can point the way to the proper treatment that will relieve your discomfort.

If you would like more information on the causes and treatment of jaw pain, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Jaw Pain — What’s the Cause?”

It might seem that adults who play aggressive, high-contact professional sports (ice hockey, for example) have the highest chance of sustaining dental injuries. But for many — like NHL hall-of-famer Mike Bossy — their first injured teeth came long before they hit the big time.

“The earliest [dental injury] I remember is when I was around 12,” the former New York Islanders forward recently told an interviewer with the Huffington Post. That came from a stick to Bossy’s mouth, and resulted in a chipped front tooth. “Unfortunately, money was not abundant back in those days, and I believe I finally had it repaired when I was 16.” he said.

You may also think there’s a greater chance of sustaining dental trauma from “collision sports” like football and hockey — but statistics tell a different story. In fact, according to the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD), you (or your children) are more likely to have teeth damaged while playing soccer than football — and basketball players have a risk that’s 15 times higher than football players.

So — whether the game is hockey, basketball or something else — should you let the chance of dental injury stop you or your children from playing the sports they love? We think not… but you should be aware of the things you can do to prevent injury, and the treatment options that are available if it happens.

Probably the single most effective means of preventing sports-related dental injuries is to get a good, custom-made mouth guard — and wear it. The AGD says mouthguards prevent some 200,000 such injuries every year. And the American Dental Association says that athletes who don’t wear mouthguards are 60 times more likely to sustain harm to the teeth than those who do.

Many studies have shown that having a custom-fitted mouthguard prepared in a dental office offers far greater protection then an off-the-shelf “small-medium-large” type, or even the so-called “boil and bite” variety. Using an exact model of your teeth, we can fabricate a mouthguard just for you, made of the highest-quality material. We will ensure that it fits correctly and feels comfortable in your mouth — because if you don’t wear it, it can’t help!

But even if you do have an injury, don’t panic: Modern dentistry offers plenty of ways to repair it! The most common sports-related dental injuries typically involve chipped or cracked teeth. In many cases, these can be repaired by bonding with tooth-colored composite resins. For mild to moderate injury, this method of restoration can produce a restoration that’s practically invisible. It’s also a relatively uncomplicated and inexpensive procedure, which makes it ideal for growing kids, who may elect to have a more permanent restoration done later.

If you have questions about mouthguards or sports-related dental injuries, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can learn more in the Dear Doctor magazine articles “Athletic Mouthguards,” and “An Introduction to Sports Injuries & Dentistry.”