Sports dentistry covers two related jobs: protecting teeth before an impact and dealing with the damage when one happens anyway. Most sports injuries to the mouth come from a collision, an elbow, a stick, or a fall, and they land on the upper front teeth. A properly fitted athletic mouthguard cushions and spreads that force. If an injury does occur, what you do in the first hour often decides whether a tooth can be saved.
Where the risk actually sits
Contact sports are the obvious ones, but plenty of dental injuries arrive from skateboarding, mountain biking, gymnastics, and pickup games with no equipment rules at all. The upper front teeth take the brunt because they sit forward of everything else, and players whose front teeth protrude or whose lips do not fully close over them are more exposed still. Younger athletes carry extra risk because a permanent front tooth erupting at age eight has a wide, incompletely formed root that is easier to knock out and harder to save. A guard in the bag and the habit of putting it in every session is a small thing set against a lifetime of maintaining a replacement front tooth.
Custom guards compared with the drugstore kind
A boil-and-bite guard is better than nothing, and it is what most players start with. The problem is fit. Softened over a stove and bitten into shape, it thins out exactly where it should be thickest, tends to loosen during play, and gets pushed around or chewed. A custom guard is made from a model of your own teeth, so it stays put without being clenched, keeps even thickness across the biting surfaces, and interferes far less with breathing and talking. That last part matters more than it sounds, because the guard that actually gets worn is the comfortable one.
- Fits your arch closely and stays seated during play
- Consistent thickness where impact lands
- Easier to breathe, talk, and call plays in
- Thickness can be adjusted to the sport
Getting one made
The appointment itself is short. Impressions or a digital scan capture the shape of your teeth, and the guard is fabricated to that model. Growing athletes need remaking more often, since erupting teeth change the fit within a season or two, so it is worth checking the guard at each hygiene visit. Bring it along if a coach requires a particular thickness or if you play more than one sport with different demands. If you wear an aligner or have recently had front-tooth work done, mention that when you book an appointment so the timing can be planned sensibly.
If a tooth gets knocked out
An avulsed permanent tooth is a genuine emergency and time matters enormously. Find the tooth and pick it up by the crown, the part you normally see, never by the root. Rinse it gently if it is dirty, without scrubbing and without wrapping it in a tissue, which strips the fragile cells on the root surface. Do not attempt to push it back into the socket yourself. Keep it moist in cold milk, or held in the injured person's own saliva, and get to a dentist straight away. A baby tooth is handled differently and should not be reimplanted, so call rather than guess.
Cracks, chips, and teeth pushed out of position
Not every hit removes a tooth. A chipped edge may only need smoothing or a composite repair, while a fracture reaching the nerve needs treatment quickly to give the tooth its best chance. Save any broken fragment in milk or water and bring it with you. A tooth that has been driven sideways, pushed up, or loosened should not be wiggled back by hand; steady it as best you can, use a cold pack on the outside of the lip for swelling, and get seen the same day. Even teeth that look fine after a knock are worth checking, because nerve damage can announce itself weeks later as darkening or a dull ache. Emergency dental care exists for exactly this kind of afternoon.
Caring for a mouthguard
Rinse it in cool water before and after every use, brush it occasionally with a soft brush, and let it dry fully before it goes in a ventilated case rather than the bottom of a gym bag. Heat is the enemy: a hot car, a dishwasher, or boiling water will distort the fit permanently. Check it periodically for tears, thin spots, and chew marks, and replace it when the shape starts to change. An athletic guard is built for impact and is not the same appliance as a nightguard for grinding, so the two are not interchangeable in either direction.
Common questions about sports dentistry & mouthguards
What should I do if my child's tooth is knocked out during a game?
Pick the tooth up by the crown rather than the root, rinse it gently without scrubbing, and keep it moist in cold milk or the child's saliva. Do not try to reinsert it yourself, and do not let it dry out. Call a dentist immediately, because the chances of saving a permanent tooth drop sharply as time passes.
Is a custom mouthguard really better than a boil-and-bite one?
A custom guard is made from a model of your own teeth, so it stays seated during play and keeps its protective thickness where impacts land. Boil-and-bite versions often thin unevenly and loosen, which encourages players to chew or remove them. The most protective guard is ultimately the one comfortable enough that it gets worn every session.
Does my child need a mouthguard for non-contact sports?
Injuries are common in activities without body contact, including skateboarding, biking, gymnastics, and basketball, where falls and stray elbows cause plenty of damage. It is worth asking about protection for any activity involving speed, height, hard surfaces, or equipment near face level. We can advise on what suits the sport your child plays.
How often should a sports mouthguard be replaced?
Replace it whenever it tears, thins, or no longer seats firmly. Growing children and teenagers often need a new one each season because erupting teeth change the fit, while adults may get several years from one guard. Bringing it to routine checkups lets us look at the condition and fit before a problem shows up mid-game.
