Getting ready for the new footy season – time to check your mouthguard!

As pre-season training for winter sports commences and kids are getting fitted for new boots, headgear and shin pads – the Australian Dental Association (ADA) reminds parents and caregivers their kids need a dental check-up too as, more importantly, they may need a new mouthguard!

“Children’s teeth and jaws change each year just as much as their feet grow so it’s important that they see a dentist to have their mouthguard checked. An ill-fitting mouthguard could actually do more harm than good” stated Professor David Manton, Chair of the ADA’s Oral Health Committee.

The ADA recommends wearing a custom-made mouthguard that is properly fitted by a dentist, to ensure maximum protection against dental and facial injuries. The ADA does not recommend over-the-counter or ‘boil and bite’ mouthguards as they offer little or no protection to your teeth and mouth.

Sports Medicine Australia also recommend the use of custom fitted mouthguards, and have worked with the ADA to develop a “No Mouthguard, No Play” policy which sporting clubs and schools can adopt.

“The basic requirement of any mouthguard is for it to remain in place at the time of impact so fit, retention and resilience are crucial to protection being achieved” added Professor Manton. “Some parents may believe that it is too costly to get a professionally made mouthguard, but this is a false economy. The cost of repairing missing or broken teeth can be a lot more expensive”.

“Every year people are treated for dental injuries that could have been avoided by wearing a professionally made mouthguard,” added Professor Manton. “Wearing a custom-fitted mouthguard helps to absorb and spread the impact of a blow to the face, which may otherwise result in injury to the mouth or jaws”.

Visit the ADA’s website https://www.ada.org.au/Your-Dental-Health/Teens-12-17/Mouthguards to access information on why protecting your mouth with a custom-fitted mouthguard is so important, as well as first aid advice for treating an injury to a tooth.

Source: Australian Dental Association News