Playing sports is one of the best ways to keep your kids active and healthy, but there are some inevitable drawbacks, chief among them the risk of injury.
From head to toe, virtually every part of your child’s body is on the chopping block when they step onto the field or court. And their teeth are especially at risk.
Our expert dentists at Lifetime Dental Care in Woodbridge, Virginia, are proud to offer comprehensive emergency dentistry services for when the worst happens. We also want to equip every parent and caregiver with the right tools to keep their child as safe as possible, so emergency dentistry is never needed.
In this blog, we walk you through a few simple things you can do to minimize your active child’s risk for mouth injuries.
By gear, we mainly mean protective gear. Our favorite piece of protective gear is, of course, the mouthguard. Though it doesn’t guarantee your child won’t sustain a mouth injury, protective gear significantly reduces the risk.
We recommend mouthguards even for kids who aren’t playing high-impact sports — all it takes is one bad hop on the baseball or softball field to knock a tooth out.
Mouthguards are even more important for young footballers, basketballers, soccer players, hockey players, and the like.
Some sports, such as football, hockey, lacrosse, and baseball (catchers only), take mouth and face protection a step further by attaching face cages to helmets.
Whatever type of mouth protection is appropriate for your child’s sport, position, and contact level, make sure they have it for every practice and game.
Few things are better than watching your kid go all out on the field, but it’s easy for young athletes to get caught up in the moment and prioritize making a play over safety. Talk to your child about tackling, catching, sliding, and blocking safely. Proper form and technique during play keep their whole body safe, including their mouth.
If your child gets hit in the mouth, don’t brush it off, even if they claim it didn’t hurt. They may not have knocked out a tooth, but they may have chipped or cracked one without realizing it. Even the smallest chink in a tooth’s armor can open the door to significant damage and infection if not treated promptly.
Should your child have their tooth knocked out or sustain some other type of serious oral trauma, don’t hesitate to use our emergency dental services or even head to the emergency room.
Before you get to us, follow these basic guidelines:
The most important thing is to remember that there’s limited time to save your child’s tooth. You only have a few minutes to properly store your child’s tooth if you want to save it; if it’s dry for more than an hour, its chances of survival decrease significantly.
Your next step is to head to our office or the emergency room as soon as possible to give your child the best chance of saving their tooth.
If you have more questions about mouth injury prevention or need to see an emergency dentist, call our office at 703-499-9779 or use our online booking tool today to speak with one of our team members.