Even though winter sports and activities can be fun and exciting, they have the potential to damage or harm your smile if you’re not careful. This is why your dentist, Dr. J. Scott Thompson, DMD encourage you to wear a mouthguard while you are active. The sports we recommend that you wear a mouthguard while participating in are:
–Basketball: Basketball is a high-contact sport that involves boxing out and defending. These two things pose a high threat to your smile, especially because there is a chance an elbow, shoulder, knee—or even the ball—could hit your mouth with such force that it injures or knocks out a tooth. This is why it’s best to wear a mouthguard while you’re playing basketball.
–Wrestling: Wrestling is another high-contact sport that can cause significant injury to your mouth. With all of the pushing, flipping, and rolling, there is a chance a body part or the wrestling mat could input much force on your mouth and injure your teeth, gums, lips, and tongue. So, please wear a mouthguard while you’re wrestling.
–Hockey: One of the best parts of hockey is slamming into the opponent when you get the chance, right? Well, this means your smile is in danger. When you hit into another player, there is the possibility of a shoulder or head banging into your mouth and hurting your smile. So, while you’re playing hockey, please wear a mouthguard.
–Sledding: Even though sledding is not a high-contact sport or activity, there is still a chance your smile could get injured. You could crash and fall when you’re riding down the hill or you could even crash into another sledder. When this happens, there is a chance a head, foot, shoulder, or other body part could injure your mouth. This is why it’s important to wear a mouthguard while you sled.
–Snowboarding/Skiing: Just like sledding, snowboarding and skiing aren’t high-contact sports that could pose serious threats to your smile. However, there is a chance you could crash, whether it’s on your own, into another person, or into a tree, and your smile could be severely damaged. So, it’s best to wear a mouthguard while you soar down the mountain.
If you protect your smile with a mouthguard while playing basketball, wrestling, playing hockey, sledding, snowboarding, and skiing, you’ll be protecting your teeth and preventing oral injury. Your next step now is to visit the nearest sporting goods store and purchase your own personal mouthguard. If you would like to know about the best mouthguard for you, please call 802-879-7811 to speak to a member of our team. We are happy to tell you all we know about mouthguards in Essex Junction, Vermont!