When you think dental trauma, what do you picture? A broken front tooth? A football or hockey player without a tooth in their smile?
Believe it or not, one of the most underrated aspects of dental trauma is associated brain trauma, or concussion. In contact sports, players will commonly experience brain trauma in a collision WITHOUT a protective oral sports guard. A blow to the jaw or face usually transmits traumatic forces to the head. When a sports guard is used, those forces are absorbed, and greatly reduces the risk of concussion.
When I interview patients that play sports, I have found that many of them don't use a sports guard for basketball, soccer, and baseball. There is significant risk of dental and brain trauma in these sports, but conventional wisdom has kept many athletes from investing in a sports guard.
There are many types of sports guards available in drugstores and sports stores, and those are better than nothing at all. But they often warp, distort, and lose their protective functions when they have been used for a while. The real protection from dental trauma and concussion comes from professionally-constructed sports guards. The best models keep their shape, deflect traumatic forces, and stay comfortable. They are dual-laminate, meaning they are made from multiple layers of soft and hard materials.
That being said, I feel it is important to put our hat in the ring as a dental practice who is proud of their athlete patients. Cascadia Dentistry will offer all Stanwood-Camano school basketball players a custom-made single-laminate sports guard at no cost when they come in for routine exam, x-rays, and hygiene procedures. They are normally about $175-200, but we want to make them for free express our support for the safety of school district athletes this basketball season.
Have fun this season, and stay safe!
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