Lots of people can go their entire lives without experiencing any kind of dental emergency, but if you’re an athlete, sometimes it may feel like an eventuality. Even if you don’t play a contact sport, there’s always a risk that you could wind up accidentally doing damage to your smile.
That said, you can absolutely make it through your athletic career with all your teeth intact. If you’re curious, here are some of the most common athletic dental emergencies that you could deal with, and how you can prevent them.
What Can Happen to Athletes’ Teeth?
When someone gets hit in the mouth, it can damage the teeth in all kinds of ways. While some injuries are more serious than others, all of them warrant attention from an emergency dentist.
If you’re an athlete, you should watch out for:
- Cracked Teeth: Cracks are more serious than chips, involving damage that can come close to the tooth’s root. A tooth that has cracked is deeply painful, and can easily become a hub for infection if left untreated.
- Fractured Root: This can happen if someone is struck in the jaw. Damage may not be all that apparent from the outside, but a fractured root can cut off blood flow to the tooth, resulting in its death.
- Tooth Intrusion: If someone is hit at an unlucky angle, it’s possible for the tooth to get pushed back into the jaw. This entails the destruction of the tooth’s roots, pulp, and in many cases, loss of the tooth itself.
- Avulsion: This is the technical term for a tooth that’s knocked completely out of the socket. As you can imagine, you have to act very fast to have any chance of saving the tooth you’ve lost.
How Athletes Can Protect Themselves
The most important thing an athlete can do for their teeth is to get a well-fitting sports guard. While you can find one-size-fits-all mouthpieces at any store, these could potentially fail when you need them most.
The best thing to do is to get a dentist to make a sports guard that will fit perfectly into your mouth. If you’re an athlete, this investment will almost certainly save you a lot of money (and pain) in the long run.
About the Author
Dr. Andrea Csok loves nothing more than being able to help her patients get beautiful, healthy smiles. She knows that great dental health is the key to immaculate overall health, which is why she takes her work so seriously. Dr. Csok received her dental degree from The Ohio State University College of Dentistry, and in the interest of continuing her education, she maintains membership in both the American Dental Association and the Greater Cleveland Dental Society.
If you have any questions about dental emergencies, she can be reached at her website or by phone at (216) 292-3600.