Wear a Mouth Guard to Protect Your Chops

• Posted on: Dec 15 2016
• By: Dr. Covell

Playing sports or engaging in any activities that put your mouth at risk call for one very important thing: a mouth guard. You may think of mouth guards as obstructive and uncomfortable, but if you don’t wear a mouth guard, you’re only putting yourself at greater risk for seriously damaging your teeth. Consider the following benefits that wearing a mouth guard provides:

• Teeth Protection
  In sports like football, hockey and lacrosse, a mouthguard is crucial. These high-impact, contact sports put you at higher risk for doing some real damage to your teeth, whether it’s chipping or breaking a tooth, or something more serious like bone damage and even tooth loss. Wear a properly fitting mouth guard at all times during sports activities to protect your teeth effectively.
• Dental Work Protection
  Dental work can be costly, which is just another reason wearing a mouthguard is so essential. If you’ve had any dental work done such as braces, bridgework or other semi-permanent dental work, you’ll want to protect your teeth at all times. And besides teeth protection, a mouth guard also adds an extra layer between your dental work and your cheeks, lips and tongue to prevent soft tissue damage.
• Injury Prevention
  Playing contact sports is not only dangerous for your teeth, it also puts you at risk of damage to your body. It may be surprising to learn that a mouth guard can protect against additional damage to your body by preventing injuries like a jaw fracture, concussion, neck injury. It can even lower the risk of a cerebral hemorrhage. That’s because there is padding between the upper and lower jaw bone, so when you wear a mouthguard you lessen the risk of sustaining a blow to the upper jaw by preventing it from pushing up on the skull near your brain.

To learn more about keeping your teeth protected during contact sports and other activities, or to schedule your next dental visit, contact the office of Paul Covell, DDS online or by calling 713.943.9832. We look forward to hearing from you!

Posted in: Mouth Guards