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If you participate in an active sport, such as football, basketball, snowboarding, or BMX, it’s essential you take the proper precautions to ensure that your teeth, tongue, cheeks, and lips are protected. Though protective materials, such as helmets, knee pads, and goggles, are commonplace in athletics, mouth guards often fall by the wayside. Below, Anchorage, AK, dentist J. Bryson McBratney, D.D.S. offers five surprising facts about athletic dental injuries.

5 Facts About Athletic Dental Injuries

Mouth Guards Reduce Your Risk of Injury

The American Dental Association estimates that athletes who choose not to wear protective mouth gear are 60 times more likely to experience a dental injury than those who do. Regardless of experience, age, or the sport, wearing a mouth guard is essential to your oral health.

Mouth Guards Are Cost Effective

A mouth guard is a practical investment. When compared to the costs associated with a dental injury, protective mouth gear makes sound financial sense.

Athletic Dental Injuries Are Extremely Common

dental careRoughly one-third of all American dental injuries can be attributed to athletic participation. Experts believe protective mouth guards could easily prevent over 200,000 of these injuries every year.

Practice & Prevention Go Hand-in-Hand

Accidents aren’t limited to official game play. As such, it’s important for athletes to wear protective mouth gear during warm-ups, scrimmages, and competitions.

Not All Guards Are Created Equal

Mouth guards come in varying levels of protection. Though guards can be purchased through your neighborhood pharmacy, dental care experts recommend custom-fit guards to ensure a proper fit.

Whether you’re considering a custom mouth guard or have suffered a dental injury, J. Bryson McBratney, D.D.S. is the dentist to call. Backed by over 33 years of dental care experience, Dr. McBratney offers a full range of preventative, restorative, and cosmetic dentistry services to patients of all ages. Call (907) 562-3323 or visit the practice online to request an appointment.  

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