In the time of the virus, sport is a golden opportunity to socialize and attain mental health. Indeed, sport’s ability to lower depression and relieve stress is spot-on in such trying times. The exercise given by sports can help calm nerves and restore mental health, not to mention improve your chances of fighting serious mental health issues. Having children join sports when America is enjoying a period of vaccination should be wise.
Unfortunately sports also bring with them a host of risks. Chief among them are children’s teeth. American Dental Association details there are about 7 million recreation-related teeth injuries every year. The worse part is more than half of these injuries have been sustained by children ages five and below.
Some of the riskiest sports include skateboarding, basketball, and martial arts (boxing, judo, karate). You may be happy to send your kids to a sports club to play and have the time of his life. But at the end of the day, you can’t ignore the risk sports poses to your child’s teeth.
The good news is there are ways children and teenagers alike can protect their oral health, in the arena. Timely tips from teeth experts should get you there. In the long run, you gave them the time to recover after months of hard lockdown without having to endanger their teeth.
To Play Safe
Take a cue from boxers. All it would take to separate a tooth from the mouth is one solid blow to the face. A basketball or a volleyball can do that job as easily too. So in this regard, making sure you wear mouth guards is wise. By spreading out the strong impact of a blow, mouth guards protect your mouth like no other.
It may not feel so comfortable but athletic mouthguards are your teeth’ guardian angel. Not only can they lower a child’s risk of a broken tooth, but also prevent injuries to gums and lips. If you want to max on mouth guards, ordering lab-fabricated designs is spot on. But if your options are limited, know that any mouthguard is better than no mouthguard at all.
What If Tooth Gets Knocked Out?
Chances are, you could be confronted with a situation when a child’s tooth gets knocked out while playing. If that happens to your teen or your child, never fear. Just don’t throw the fallen tooth away, assuming you can find it.
Of course, your reliable dentist should be your next stop after that. But if you’re wondering where you should place the tooth, then know there’s no better thing to do than to stick it solidly in the child’s socket. It’s the best move available for you. Otherwise, use a milk solution to store the poor tooth of it that’s not an option, your saliva.
What If Your Child’s Tooth Turns Brown While in the Pool?
Think long-term. A swimming pool is actually treated with chemicals. If your child stays too long in that body of water, it’s not only the pool that gets treated. Indeed, having a six-hour swim can discolor the teeth.
It’s bound to cause some panic for newbies. As many sports swimmers complain, they’d notice brownish deposits staining their molars. Pundits detail this is caused by the pool’s chemicals interacting with our saliva’s proteins. Now, if that becomes a problem for your child, you can choose to have your child visit the dental clinic more often. And get his teeth cleaned more.
What If Your Child Finds Sports to Be a Thirsty Work?
Sports offer a dangerous opportunity for tooth destruction. You may not realize it but energy drinks are a bigger culprit to induce tooth erosion more than sweet cola drinks. That may sound strange but it’s true.
So you should be careful with what kind of replenishing drink your child takes when he’s thirsty while playing. Take note that sugar in one’s mouth means one can have an untimely acid attack after 20 minutes. But things can be worse for energy drinks.
A good way to prevent such a dilemma is to just drink plain water. Or if not, one can just rinse the mouth using water after drinking sugary drinks or energy drinks. Having your electrolytes replenished can mean destruction for your pretty molars.
There is a slew of ways you can have your child’s teeth as pretty as can be. The right habits can go a long way in ensuring those teeth and gums are in the best of health. We’re talking about regular flossing and brushing. It may sound simple but if your child does these habits without fail, he can be on the way to stronger, whiter teeth for a long, long time.
