We’re already a week into December, which means the year is winding to a close as we speak. 2016 will be here soon, and that means it’s time to not only think about holiday gift giving but also about your family’s needs in the new year. For those of us with athletic family members thoughts might be on upcoming sports seasons: all that equipment to buy!

At Edgewood Dental Care we love taking care of athletes but we also know that we see them more often for emergencies. Without proper protection athletes playing high-contact sports are 60 percent more likely to have a dental injury. That’s something our custom-made athletic mouthguards can prevent!

Mouthguards By The Numbers
Physical sports are dangerous: there’s no doubt about that. All the flying objects, limbs, and high-impact collisions do a lot to cause injury to the body and the mouth as well. Each year sports injuries account for over 600,000 emergency dental visits, most of which could be avoided with a good mouthguard!

It’s estimated that over 200,000 more injuries are avoided each year by the wearing of proper mouthguards. While that’s only a third of total injuries imagine what would happen if everyone had mouthguards that were properly fitted and worn.

Injuries caused by a lack of dental protection aren’t just fractures and trauma. A lot of dental injuries take time to show up. Damage to the jaw joint, or the TMJ, is one of the most common injuries. In martial arts practitioners alone the number of people suffering from TMJ disorders was shown to be over 50 percent! Compared to the non-athletes in the study where the incidence of TMJ disorders was on 14 percent that’s a huge increase that could be prevented with a good custom athletic mouthguard!

Mouthguards are also responsible for preventing an even more serious kind of injury: concussions. In high-impact sports the jaw is often slammed into the head with surprising force. If that force is enough to cause damage to teeth imagine what it’s doing to your brain! By wearing a mouthguard that cushions blows and distributes force away from the brain you’re doing yourself a huge favor.

Why A Custom Mouthguard?
It seems like overkill, right? Do you really need to spend money on a custom mouthguard when there are plenty of ones available at the sporting goods stores? While wearing a boil-and-bite mouthguard is better than nothing doesn’t protect nearly as well as one that’s designed to fit your unique mouth.

Boil-and-bite mouthguards tend to not only fall out easily, but they also obstruct breathing, speech, and other essential elements of team sports. When you need to give all you’ve got to make the big play it’s hard to do it when you can barely breathe!

The custom mouthguard we offer at Edgewood Dental Care are designed from the ground up for the athlete who will wear it. We start with an impression of your mouth that’s used to craft the perfect fit. This will keep the mouthguard comfortably in place when you’re active, all without making it feel foreign or difficult to wear. A lot of the athletes who we see are amazed at the comfort when they first try theirs on!

We also customize your mouthguard for the sport you play. Certain sports involve a higher risk of physical injury, so we build your mouthguard thicker in parts of the mouth that take the most impact. The result is a device that sits comfortably, protects thoroughly, and also allows you to get oxygen when you need it at clutch moments in the game.

Now Is The Perfect Time!
For young athletes every season means new equipment and expenses. A mouthguard can last a long time, and can even be modified and repaired as needed. Do yourself and your family athlete a favor and give them the gift of a safe, protected smile this holiday season. It might not be the most exciting gift but it will protect them, save you money on expensive dental visits, and give everyone peace of mind during the big games.

To schedule an appointment at Edgewood Dental Care call us today at 859-474-7830 or you can request the ideal time by filling out our online form. We look forward to seeing you soon!