Mouth and tooth injuries are quite common in occurrence. Most of the dental injuries occur to the front teeth and lips, tongue and inner cheek. In babies, injuries could occur due to falling while leaning to work or playing. Sports are the main source of dental injuries for the adults.
It is seen that almost half of dental injuries are caused due to sports in adults. Dental injuries can be very painful and it is important to be careful during sports or other activities. As they all say- prevention is better than cure.
Some tips to prevent sports-related dental injuries
Mouth Guards: A mouth guard is the best way to protect your teeth while playing sports. It absorbs and minimizes the effect of any forceful impact.
Face cages: Some positions in certain sports are very susceptible to dental injuries like hockey goalie, baseball catcher etc. Wearing a face cage can protect against injury in such cases.
Helmets: It’s important to use helmets in sports which are prone to head injuries like in cricket as it protects the most important part of your body: your head.
What if my teeth get knocked out?
It is very much possible to repair your knocked out teeth provided you get to your dentist as soon as possible. Tooth which are knocked out and replaced by the dentist within one hour of being knocked out have the best chances of being saved. Even if the tooth or teeth cannot be saved there are various cosmetic procedures to get back your smile such as a removable partial denture or a fixed partial denture or even a dental implant.