By If your child runs, plays outside, or is an athlete, they need a mouthguard. End of story. As a board certified pediatric dentist, I wish I could tell you that most mouth injuries are sports related, but the truth is, many are not! Children playing on a playground, or playing hide and go seek in the neighborhood are also at risk of permanent damage to their mouths. Fact is, many parents don’t understand the reprocussions of a mouth injury, including the short term and long term effects of said injury.
Let’s take 10 yr old Mikey, who was simply having a little fun with some neighborhood friends playing tag, when an unexpected fall to the ground caused Mikey’s front permanent tooth to get knocked out. Of course Mikey is going to have to go through the pain and discomfort of having to try to re-implant the tooth and put a “cast” on it, but worse, this tooth has a very poor prognosis. There’s a chance he may need a root canal down the road, or worse, the tooth may need to come out all together. Now let’s consider this worse case scenario…Mikey loses his front tooth. At ten years old, Mikey is not a candidate for an implant for at least 8 more years! And if he has to wait 8 years, which means there will be bone loss, and multiple retainers that need to be made to esthetically appear like Mikey has a front tooth. And any dentist will tell you, one of the most difficult procedures in dentistry is to add bone, recontour the gums, and make an implant in the aesthetic zone look natural. One simple injury can cost thousands of dollars and will affect Mikey for a lifetime!
The National Federation of State High School Associations mandates mouthguards for football, hockey, lacrosse, and wrestlers in braces. That’s it! What about baseball and basketball, which have been shown to have the highest incidence of sports related injuries in children ages seven to seventeen?
Mouthgaurds don’t just protect a beautiful smile. They protect the jaw and the tempomandibular joint through shock absorption. While there are several different kinds, feel free to reach out to our local Pediatric Dentist in San Elijo Hills near San Marcos, CA for more questions and answers.
Pediatric Dentist in San Elijo Hills
To learn more about The Brush Stop Dental. please call 1-760-635-5995 or visit our website at www.thebrushstopdental.com
Feel free to take a tour of the practice: https://thebrushstopdental.com/office-tour/
– Dr. Jenna Khoury, a Board-Certified Pediatric Dentist in Carlsbad, CA.
