Last month, Sean visited Delmarva Dental Services in Salisbury and took a saliva test.
Dr. Joe Harmon with Delmarva Dental Services joins us today to share Sean’s results with us. Sean is relieved to hear he has a little gingivitis which can be cleared up with a teeth cleaning.
Dr. Harmon also talks to us about the importance of mouth guards while participating in sports and which mouth guards are best to prevent injury. He says they are seeing a lot of sports injuries this time of year:
- 15 million Americans suffer dental injuries a year
- 5 million teeth lost annually in sports-related injuries.
- In a single athletic season, athletes have a 1 in 10 chance of suffering a facial or dental injury.
- The lifetime risk of oral injury is 45%
Dr. Harmon says the most common injury is the upper front tooth. He also says children between the ages of seven and ten have the highest number of injuries.
The top four sports that they are seeing tooth injuries in are:
- Baseball
- Biking
- Hockey
- Basketball
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Mouth guards help prevent oral injuries, even concussions. Dr. Harmon tells us about different types of mouth guards:
Stock Mouth Guards – Inexpensive and come preformed, ready to wear. Unfortunately, they often do not fit well, can be bulky, and make breathing and talking difficult.
Boil and Bite Mouth Guards – Available at many sporting goods stores and offer a better fit than stock mouth guards. They could be softened in water, then inserted and allowed to adapt to the shape of the mouth.
Custom-Fitted Mouth Guards – Made by a dentist in a dental office or dental laboratory based on a dentist’s instructions. An impression is taken of the teeth and a mouth guard is created using the model. Custom-fitted mouth guards are more expensive than the other versions, but because they are customized, they can offer a better fit than anything you can buy off the shelf.
