Experienced Orthodontists Providing Affordable Sports Mouth Guards in Buffalo, NY
Courts, fields, and diamonds are thawing out across the region, and soon they’ll be filled with young athletes gathered for team practices and pickup games. All sports involve some risk of injury, and those risks are heightened when young athletes, eager to play indoors or outdoors neglect to wear the protective gear they need.
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The American Dental Association estimates that two percent of child and adolescent athletes suffer a facial injury that requires medical attention. While a sprained ankle needs little more than rest to heal, injuries to the face and mouth can cause serious pain, require expensive treatment, and leave permanent damage.
A mouth injury could knock out a tooth, cause a malocclusion (misaligned bite), and damage gums. Wearing sports mouth guards, and taking other simple, inexpensive precautions, could save your or your child from painful, costly, and avoidable procedures.
National Facial Protection Month in April is an awareness-building effort from The Academy for Sports Dentistry (ASD), American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS), American Association of Orthodontists (AAO), and the American Dental Association (ADA). This April, these healthcare and pediatric professionals have shared five tips for young athletes and parents about staying safe through the spring sports season.
- Wear a sports mouth guard for any contact sport. Any blow to the face could knock out or loosen a tooth, damage gums, or cause bleeding. A sports mouth guard is an inexpensive and very effective protection. Experienced dental health professionals can make young athletes customized sports mouth guards, which are even better at protecting teeth while allowing normal speech and breathing.
- Wear a helmet. Helmets offer another layer of protection necessary for high-impact sports like football, lacrosse, hockey, and baseball. A heavy blow to the mouth could still cause damage even to an athlete wearing sports mouth guards. You aren’t just worried about lost teeth, of course: you also need to protect against concussions and other head injuries.
- Wear protective eyewear. Some sports don’t typically call for helmets, but still pose the risk of serious facial injury. In racquetball and American Handball, for example, protective goggles are a must. Don’t risk the pain and temporary and permanent blindness that might result from a hit to the eyes: wear goggles.
- Use facial masks to protect an already injured face. You might remember Kobe Bryant’s famous clear plastic mask. Bryant and other basketball players have adopted these to protect already damaged faces from further injury. In sports where helmets are impractical – like basketball or soccer – a facial mask could allow you to keep playing in relative safety, even after a damaging blow to a nose or a cheekbone.
- If you’re a coach or an administrator, make sports mouth guards mandatory for all sports. Children don’t have much perspective on their own vulnerability. Most haven’t lived long enough to see many other young athletes like themselves suffer serious, debilitating, or life-altering injuries. Many people used to believe children lacked the ability to estimate risk, but recent research shows that children are often more capable of understanding risk than adults. However, young people, especially teens, tend to over-value rewards, like thrill and approval from their peers. Sports only heighten the value of rewards like these. As a coach or administrator, you can override a young athletes’ impulse to ditch protective gear by mandating it for all sports under your supervision, educating young athletes about the risks of injury and reminding them of the importance of proper protection.
Sports that require a sports mouth guard or another form of protective gear include:
| Acrobatics | Field Hockey | Racquetball | Squash |
| Bandy | Football | Rugby | Surfing |
| Baseball | Gymnastics | Shot Put | Volleyball |
| Basketball | Handball | Skateboarding | Water Polo |
| Bicycling | Ice Hockey | Skiing | Weightlifting |
| Boxing | Inline Skating | Skydiving | Wrestling |
| Equestrian Events | Lacrosse | Soccer | |
| Field Events | Martial Arts | Softball |
Seeking Treatment: What To Do About A Sports-Related Facial Injury
If you or your child has suffered a facial injury from a sport, orthodontic treatment might be necessary, but sports mouth guards can prevent problems from arising.
After any serious blow to the face, you might want to meet with an experienced orthodontist. At Orthodontists Associates of Western New York, we can use an to diagnose your injury, and then discuss your options with you. You might need orthodontic treatment to realign a bite, or close gaps from lost teeth. Even if there is no visible damage, a blow to the face could cause a pulled or strained neck muscle, leading to pain in the jaw and ears. Our dental care professionals are ready to treat any condition resulting from a facial injury, whether it calls for traditional braces, clear braces or Invisalign, temporary anchorage devices, or surgery. In extreme cases, we can also refer patients to other oral surgeons, plastic surgeons, or speech therapists to help complete the recovery process.
Download Our Free Orthodontic Care Guide
If you are interested in sports mouth guards to protect your teeth during a contact sport, schedule a free consultation with our dedicated Buffalo orthodontists and let our experience work for you.
Orthodontists Associates of Western New York is proud to offer sports mouth guards throughout Buffalo, Lancaster, Olean, Hamburg, Orchard Park, and Dunkirk, New York. If you are considering sports mouth guards for yourself or a loved one, please contact one of our 5 convenient orthodontic offices to arrange a free consultation.
Our reputation as a leader in orthodontic care is based on one thing… Making a Healthy and Beautiful Smile
The doctors and staff at Orthodontists Associates of WNY are excited to announce we have reopened and are currently providing treatment for all your orthodontic needs. We have implemented enhanced safety measures and continue to follow strict guidelines set forth by the CDC, AAO and ADA. Your health and safety continues to be our highest priority. We look forward to welcoming you to our practice to learn more about sports mouth guards.
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