Avoiding Mouth Injuries with Braces

Most of our Orthodontic patients are young kids and teenagers, and many of them are playing some kind of sport and this increases the risk for mouth injuries.  It is important to keep our teeth safe during activities that may result in a mouth injury. Mouth guards are a great safety precaution.  Find out how to protect your child’s, or your own teeth, with Braces.

Common Mouth Injuries

I’m sure we have all experienced some kind of mouth injury. Whether it was from a fall or getting hit in the mouth during an athletic event. While most mouth injuries are not severe, they do still cause a lot of discomfort. Trauma to the lips, gums and mouth sores are common since the tissues are so soft and exposed. Teeth can easily cut the lip or inside of the mouth, and a fall can make you bite your tongue. With braces, mouth injuries can cause even more damage as the appliance itself can get lodged into or cut the cheeks, tongue and gums. Symptoms can include swelling, bruising, bleeding. Since there is a larger amount of blood flow in these areas. A cut in the mouth tends to bleed heavily in comparison to a skin cut.  It is important to wear a mouth guard whenever doing an activity or sport that could results in a mouth injury. 

Importance of a Mouth Guard

One of the best tools to use to protect kids teeth while playing sports is a mouth guard. In sports like football and boxing, mouth guards are required, but in most other sports it’s purely optional. Sports injuries can include chipped or broken teeth, fractured tooth roots and damage to orthodontic appliances, yet often mouth guards can prevent those injuries from occurring in the first place.

Mouth guards for braces are wider them your average mouth guard, this allows room for the brackets and wires. These are relatively inexpensive appliance in comparison to the cost of repairing a potential mouth injury that could occur.  We are big fans of mouth guards.