A properly fitted sports guard made by your dentist is the best protection for you teeth, jaw, TM joints, and your wallet! Some boys & girls (of all ages) may think that a sports guard is not cool and not needed but nothing can be further from the truth. I just had to go into my office to fix a fractured tooth from a patient who was not wearing their sports guard while sparring Judo. Ouch! He is lucky and only broke the filling already on the tooth and will be out a few hundred dollars. If he had fractured it more he would have needed a crown & perhaps a root canal so the cost would have been anywhere from $1200- $2400. Had the tooth been too far gone we are now talking an implant and crown so that could be in the $4,000 to +$5,000 range.
For about $200 a professionally made, multilayered sports guard is pretty cheep insurance. There are different levels of protection and the costs vary.
I have had patients tell me it affects their breathing, etc. Trust me it does not. There my be a psychological issue but there is not a physical issue with them. I played waterpolo in high school & college and wore a sports guard and actually had more confidence driving on opponents then when I did not wear it. It just takes a couple of shots in the mouth to realize what it does for you.
I personally believe that ALL contact sports should require that be worn: basketball, football, waterpolo, Lacrosse, field hockey, ice hockey, and the list goes on. I coached baseball for 14 years and feel they should be mandatory when you are up to bat and on base.
I hope this post gets you thinking!
