Each year, about 15 million Americans, from teen athletes to professionals, endure dental injuries from playing sports. Most of these injuries are entirely preventable. To protect your loved ones and avoid an emergency trip to the dentist, here are the most common dental injuries from sports. 

3 Sports Injuries Dentists Often See

1. Cracked Teeth

Whether an athlete gets a soccer ball to the mouth or slips off the high beam, a cracked tooth is a frequent injury for many individuals. While most people associate contact sports like football and boxing with oral injuries, in reality, every sport from volleyball to gymnastics poses a risk.

To prevent cracked teeth, athletes should always wear a custom-fit mouth guard. Those who don’t wear these intra-oral devices are 60 times more likely to injure their teeth during a sporting event or practice.

2. Fractured Root

In more severe sports injury instances, the tooth root can also endure damage. When the tooth’s root experiences a strong impact, it may break and lead to an infection. In these instances, a dentist must remove the infected tooth pulp through a root canal procedure. Similar to cracked teeth, fractured tooth roots are nearly always preventable by wearing a mouth guard.

3. Tooth Loss

Tooth loss in sports ranging from basketball to tennis is not uncommon. When the entire tooth falls out, it typically causes severe pain and poses a high risk of infection. The dentist must replace it with an artificial tooth. Custom-fit mouth guards as well as helmets in certain sports can prevent the risk of tooth loss.

The experienced dentists at Tkatch Dentistry in High Point, NC, strive to keep athletes of all ages safe from oral injury. To promote excellent oral health throughout the area, they consistently provide the highest caliber of preventive and restorative services, including root canals, veneers, and dental implants. To learn more about their services, visit the website. Call (336) 889-9916 to schedule an appointment.