Soccer. Football. Lacrosse. Field hockey. Fall sports are a thing of beauty and many families embrace this time of year for its action, camaraderie, joy, and movement. However, if you’re rooting for a pre-teen or teen athlete who wears braces, it’s essential to make sure their fall fun isn’t derailed by a blow to the mouth. Enjoying fall sports means protecting braces fully with help from your orthodontist and a customized sports mouthguard.
The Risks of Playing Sports with Braces
Whatever sport your teen plays, there is always the risk of a fall, collision, or getting hit with a ball or piece of equipment. The last thing you want is for anything like this to happen if you’re sporting orthodontics – teeth and braces could both be damaged in painful and costly ways.
It’s easy to avoid disaster with a customized sports mouthguard, specifically made to protect teeth and orthodontics. No teen should stop playing sports because they wear braces. The two can coexist amicably if you work with your orthodontist to figure out how to protect brackets, wires, retainers, Invisalign trays, and other hardware. Just like cleats, uniforms, helmets, and the like, a sports mouthguard is an essential and non-negotiable piece of equipment.
Get the Right Sports Guard for Your Needs
There are a few different types of mouthguards available and it’s important to select the right sports guard to protect the teeth, jaw, tongue, and orthodontics from damage as effectively as possible during game play.
Regular mouthguards and orthodontic mouthguards are different. Here’s what you need to know:
- Regular mouthguards are made of thermoplastic and can be purchased over-the-counter and molded to the teeth. They’re known as boil-and-bite guards and they’re convenient, but ineffective for braces-wearers.
- Once the boil-and-bite mold is set, it doesn’t shift. This sounds like a good thing, except people who wear braces have constantly moving teeth, which means a sports guard needs to accommodate this change.
- A thermoplastic mouthguard not only negatively impacts the effectiveness of braces, it can break or dislodge the braces if you suffer a blow to the mouth.
- An orthodontic sports mouthguard is made especially for someone who wears braces, using high-grade, protective silicone.
- The sports orthodontic mouthguard is fitted under the top lip, serves as a cushion, and prevents the lips or cheeks from being pushed into the brackets or getting snagged.
- The sports guard accommodates the braces and fits around them while protecting hardware and teeth at the same time. They’re a little bigger than conventional mouthguards, but comfortable and offer an undeniable level of safety.
Get a Customized Sports Mouthguard
Give your teen the freedom to play their favorite sport with abandon without worrying about their mouth and braces. It’s a great feeling to know that you are fully protected in all ways and can play hard and play your best.
Save your teen from injury and eliminate the need for more orthodontic visits to repair damaged or broken hardware. A simple, customized sports mouthguard is a quick and easy insurance policy for teeth.
Schedule a consultation at Soleil Orthodontics in Woodinville, WA, to get fitted for a custom-made sports mouthguard. Go team!