How to Keep Your Teeth in Youth Sports

A mouth guard can help save your teeth from injury. Here's how to choose one - and what to do if a tooth gets knocked out.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Athletic Equipment
• Baseball Catcher's Helmets With Masks
• Goalie Face Masks
• Mouth Guards
• Softball Catcher's Helmet With Mask And Throat Protector
• Mouth guards

1. Speak to your dentist or orthodontist. Although mouth guards have been in use for several decades, organized football and ice hockey are the only sports that have mandatory mouth-protector rules.

2. Understand mouth guards. They are divided into three general types: hard custom-made (usually made by a dentist), soft custom-forming (the boil-and-bite types) and hard noncustom-made (the type usually attached to football helmets).

3. Choose the best to get the most effective protection. Studies have shown that all types of mouth guards are effective in reducing the number of dental injuries, although the hard custom guard has proved most effective. Anyone with braces should use this type.

4. If a permanent tooth is knocked out and gets dirty, gently rinse it with water, but do not handle the root.

5. Reposition the tooth in the socket, if possible. If replacing the tooth is not possible, store it in milk or saliva (spit into a small cup).

6. Get to the dentist as soon as possible if a tooth is knocked out or loose.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not try to replant a baby tooth, as it could damage the permanent tooth that's in formation.

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on 11/22/2005 Not only do mouthguards protect teeth, but they also help prevent collision-induced concussions. Collegiate hockey players are, in fact, required to wear mouthguards for concussion prevention purposes.