Keep Your Eye on Your Smile: Common Dental Emergencies for Athletes

When you learned to play various sports, you probably heard this advice from your coach: keep your eye on the ball. If you get distracted or look elsewhere, you may not make the catch, get a strike, miss the shot, or mishit the ball. While your focus will be on your sport, one thing you shouldn’t forget to protect while you play is your smile! In fact, many athletes experience dental emergencies, the common of which are described below.

Knocked-Out Tooth

Did you know that your teeth are held in place with small connective tissues in the gums and jawbone? Although that bond is strong, it is not completely unbreakable.

Whether you get an accidental elbow to the face or a hard ball hits you in the face, your teeth may not be able to withstand the blow. One can be knocked out of your mouth, which is one of the most urgent dental emergencies. In fact, the odds of saving the natural teeth decreases significantly after an hour of the injury.

Chipped or Dislodged Tooth

Even if your tooth doesn’t come out entirely, it could become substantially damaged with a hit to the face. If your tooth is partially dislodged, it needs to be put back securely into the socket. A chipped tooth may seem like a purely aesthetic issue, but it could have a sharp edge and affect how you bite and eat. In both scenarios, immediate attention from your dentist is required to restore function and appearance.

Tooth Decay

Although exercising and being active in sports is physically healthy, there are some parts of your workout that could put your smile at risk of a dental emergency. For instance, when you breathe heavily, you’re likely to breathe through your mouth more, which can cause your mouth to become dry. This type of environment is perfect for oral bacteria to thrive.

Hydration is the obvious solution to a dry mouth, but it matters which beverage you use. Sports drinks are filled with either sugar or acidic chemicals, both of which can increase your chances of developing a painful cavity.

Preventing Dental Emergencies

If you want to avoid these dental emergencies, you need to take smart precautions. For contact sports, such as football, hockey, rugby, basketball, soccer, and others, wearing a mouthguard is essential to protect your smile from harm.

When you hydrate before, throughout, and after your game or training, drink water, not sports drinks. Also, make sure you are brushing and flossing your teeth every day to keep bacteria from building up.

Being aware of the risks to your oral health can help you take the necessary steps to prevent dental emergencies from happening to you. When you do, you can work hard and focus on getting better at the sports you love!

About the Practice

Unlike many other dental practices in the area, East Brunswick Family & Implant Dentistry has evening appointments available, which means the practice is available during more convenient hours to handle a dental emergency. In fact, the team does everything they can to see emergency patients on the same day as the phone call. If you have a dental emergency, you can reach out to the East Brunswick office online or call 732-385-9985.