7 Tips for Brushing Your Teeth With Braces
May 31, 2022
From encouraging exercise in a fun and educational environment to developing social motor skills, to teaching important life skills like time management, dedication, and teamwork. Sports offer a wreath of benefits to kids! While your young athletes are out on the field, you want to make sure their winning smiles are safe.
The risk of a ball or body part hitting someone in the mouth is always there in sports, regardless of the age of the athletes. You want to see your child smiling when they land a goal or score a basket, and you don’t want one misfire to prevent that. If your child has braces, a retainer, or clean aligners, they need adequate protection to avoid injuries and permanent mouth damage.
Central Virginia Orthodontics wants to keep your kids safe and on the field. Our team is prepared for any pit-stop your superstar kids need, whether it’s cut lips to broken appliances from sports-related injuries. The solution for many sports-related injuries can be as simple as using the right protective gear.
Sports and Dental Injuries
Here’s something to think about: 40% of all dental injuries in the United States are sports-related. You may expect mouth injuries in sports with lots of high-speed contact and collision. However, sports-related accidents can happen regardless of what the athletes are playing! A fall during a solo sport like skateboarding can result in a chipped tooth or broken bracket.
Young athletes who visit Central Virginia Orthodontics can continue to play sports even during treatment. However, it’s important to check your child’s appliances immediately if you have an accident while playing. If the appliances look damaged or your teeth are loose or falling, schedule an appointment for repair as soon as possible.
A quick assessment and early treatment is our primary goal. The most common injuries our team sees are tooth fractures, also known as a “chipped tooth,” and soft tissue lacerations or cuts on your gums, tongue, or cheeks due to direct impact to or with the area. As we check for these types of injuries, we examine the motion of your jaw to address any jaw dislocation. Some patients may experience more severe oral health injuries such as luxation. A tooth can be displaced but still in the socket or even an avulsion in which the tooth becomes wholly dislocated.
Sports-Related Mouth Protection
According to a survey from the American Association of Orthodontists, 99% of parents with children playing organized sports believe mouthguards should be required to play. However, close to 40% of those parents said their children never wear one for practice or games.
If your child isn’t already used to wearing a mouthguard, it can be difficult to help them get started and get into the habit of keeping it on before a game. Still, it is one of the more inexpensive ways to protect your child’s teeth, tongue, gums, and cheeks from trauma during their extra-curricular activities.
Orofacial injuries are a risk for participants of all ages, genders, and skill levels. Whether it’s organized and unorganized sports, at recreational and competitive levels, at school, or in kids’ leagues. While most dental injuries are sustained during collision and contact sports, they are prevalent in limited-contact, non-contact, and high-velocity activities.
The American Dental Association recommends the use of a properly fitting mouthguard in the following activities:
Contact/Collision Sports
- Basketball
- Boxing
- Combat Sports
- Football
- Handball
- Hockey (Ice and Field)
- Lacrosse
- Martial Arts
- Rugby
- Soccer
- Water Polo
- Wrestling
Limited-Contact and Other Sports
- Acrobatics
- Baseball
- Bicycling
- Equestrian Events
- Field Events
- Gymnastics
- Inline Skating
- Racquetball
Choosing and Caring for your Mouthguards
Mouthguards come in many different options. According to the ADA Council of Scientific Affairs and Council on Advocacy for Access and Prevention, an ideal mouthguard should:
- Stay in place comfortably and securely
- Be adequately fitted to the wearer’s mouth and accurately adapted to their oral structures
- Be made of resilient material approved by the FDA and cover all remaining teeth on one arch
- Be physiologically compatible with the wearer
- Be relatively easy to clean
- Have high-impact energy absorption to reduce or limit transmitted forces upon impact
If your child is currently undergoing orthodontic treatment, speak with one of our orthodontists to ensure the mouthguard will fit over their appliances and not damage the device or harm your mouth if an impact occurs.
Your child will know they have a good fit if it is comfortable, offers adequate coverage, and doesn’t interfere with speaking or breathing. The three most common types of mouthguards are stock (also called “pre-made”), custom-made, and mouth-formed. Let’s go over each of these options:
Stock Mouthguards
Also known as “pre-made,” this option is the most common mouthguard due to availability. You are likely to find it in a sporting goods store. These mouthguards come in various sizes and colors to suit as many wearers as possible. However, the stock mouthguard is considered the least effective option because it has a generic design that may not fit every individual’s mouth. This gives it an improper fit and requires the mouth to be shut to keep it in place.
Custom-made Mouthguards
Custom mouthguards are made in an orthodontic lab or dental office from individual patient impressions using thermoforming techniques to be fully customized and provide wearers the best fit to adapt to your mouth. This is often the most expensive option for oral protection, but the balanced occlusion and maximized tooth contact significantly reduce the risk of the mouthguard becoming displaced while playing sports.
Mouth-formed Mouthguards
Also referred to as “boil-and-bite,” these mouthguards are designed to be warmed in water briefly to become permeable and then cooled slightly to be placed in the mouth and bitten down onto creating a customized fitting. These can be usually found in sporting goods stores or online. A dental professional may help facilitate the proper forming around dental appliances in some cases. Follow all manufacturer’s instructions precisely to ensure adequate heating and molding of the thermoplastic material, and avoid improper shaping creating a poorly fitted device with diminished protection.
Orthodontic Emergencies
When your young athlete has their first sports-related dental injury, we want you to be prepared. Remember to stay calm and carefully examine and take note of the damage to be explained to the dental professional. Contact Dr. Baugher and Dr. Claiborne for specific instructions on mitigating your injury until they see you in the office. Here are some of the more common injuries we see and how to handle them best.
Fractured Tooth
This can feel scarier than the reality of the experience. To stabilize the broken or chipped tooth and control any bleeding, you can bite gently on a towel as you head to your dentist. If the tooth piece has come out of the mouth completely, it can be transported in milk, under your tongue, or wrapped in saline-soaked gauze.
Missing Tooth
If the whole tooth has come out of the socket, do not touch the roots and pick the tooth up by the crown. Gently rinse it in water and place the tooth back into the socket it came from, gently biting down on a towel to hold it in place as you head to the emergency dentist. A tooth placed back into the socket within five minutes of ejection can be permanently saved!
Extruded or Laterally Displaced Tooth
This injury will look like a tooth is longer than usual and often appears with the displaced tooth being pushed back or pulled forward. To reposition this tooth, place firm but precise pressure on it. This process can be painful and is most effectively performed by a dental professional.
Intruded Tooth
If the tooth looks like it is now shorter than usual, it’s possible it has been pushed into the bone and become intruded. This is a painful experience and requires an immediate visit to an emergency dentist. Do not attempt to pull the tooth out or reposition the tooth.
These are the most common dental emergencies children have in sports. However, these are not all possibilities. Make sure you get to your dentist as soon as possible after an injury. Your dentist or orthodontist can remedy many mouth injuries caught in the first couple of hours without risk of permanent damage. However, if your child develops a fever, has trouble breathing or swallowing, or their bleeding doesn’t stop after about ten minutes of pressure, it could be a more serious problem, and you should go to the closest emergency room.
Keep your kid on the court with Central Virginia Orthodontics
When your child lands a goal or scores a basket, we want them smiling. Central Virginia Orthodontics is ready to help you every step along the way. Our expert team and welcoming office are here to provide a personalized treatment plan to help you achieve your goals. Get in touch to schedule a FREE consultation with Dr. Baugher or Dr. Claiborne or to talk through your concerns with us! Your satisfaction is as important to us as your smile.