How to Protect Your Child's Teeth During Sports

Posted on 12/10/2021 by Fariba Mutschler

It is beneficial for children to engage in sporting activities. As much as it helps improve their physical health, sports can put your child's dental health at risk. Kids that engage in sporting activities are at a high risk of sustaining facial injuries that could cause tooth damage. Stopping them from engaging in sporting activities may not be the best option. Instead, you need to protect your child's teeth when they engage in these activities. Luckily, you can protect your kids during sports by providing a mouthguard and avoiding using sports drinks.

Provide a Mouth Guard

Children that play high-contact games like hockey, soccer, and football are at a high risk of suffering cracked teeth, cut lips, or lost teeth. This can happen when they collide with another player or get hit by a ball or bat. Your child can also sustain facial injuries when they slip and hit their face on the ground. To prevent this from happening, it is important for them to wear protective mouth guards. Mouthguards reduce the risk of them getting injured when such accidents happen. Mouthguards are very flexible items made of rubbery plastic. They fit over the upper teeth to prevent damage to your mouth. Your child should bite down on the mouthguard when playing because it will also help protect the lower teeth.

Avoid Using Sports Drinks

You should also avoid using sports drinks on your child. As much as these drinks are heavily marketed as a way of replacing the energy and fluids used during exercises, they pose serious danger to your kid's oral health. This is because they contain high sugar levels which increases the risk of cavities and tooth decay. They also have high acid levels that can corrode your child's teeth. Therefore, it is important to ensure that your child only uses water to dehydrate. Visit our offices for more information on how to protect your child's teeth.

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Our Dental Blog | Great Grins Pediatric Dentistry - Portland, OR
Dr. Fariba Mutschler & Dr. Mark Mutschler have created this informative blog to help educate the community. If you like an article or the dental blog in general please use the share it button to post to Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.
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