It’s spring! That means the start of a new sports season. It also means it’s once again time to remind our patients at Horner Barrow Orthodontics to protect their faces, and their precious smiles while out on the field playing sports. According to the National Youth Sports Safety Foundation, young children, middle school and high-school athletes and adults have more than 5,000,000 teeth knocked out in sporting events annually. That’s a LOT of displaced teeth.
If you are going to be participating in any spring sports, it’s very important to have a properly fitting mouthguard as part of your essential equipment. Mouthguards can prevent cracked, chipped or broken teeth, lip and cheek injuries, jawbone fractures, mouth lacerations, and sometimes, even concussions.
Just remember, the only way a mouthguard will work is if you actually wear it, during practice and during a game! Wearing a mouthguard can make the difference between losing your teeth or not. One thing for our patients who play high school sports to keep in mind is this: your mouthguard from last year may no longer fit as it should because your jawbone is still growing and changing. Dr. Kevin Horner, Dr. Keri Barrow, and our team at Horner Barrow Orthodontics would be happy to fit you for a new mouthguard.
To learn more about mouthguards, or for any other questions you may have about your orthodontic treatment, please give us a call at our Sioux Falls, SD office!