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Is your dentist participating in Mouthguard March?
- Details
- 19 February 2018
Every year, thousands of people are treated for dental injuries that could have been avoided by wearing a protective, custom-fitted mouthguard. Wearing a custom-fitted mouthguard helps to protect against serious injuries, such as a broken jaw, cut lips and tongues, and cracked, fractured or knocked-out teeth.
In children, sports injury cases result in twice the number of hospital bed days than road traffic injury cases. During 2002–2010, 30,000 Victorian children under 15 years were hospitalised due to a sports injury.
Dental injuries can result in time off school or work to recover, can be painful and disfiguring, and may involve lengthy and complex dental treatment. The cost of an injury to the teeth or jaw far exceeds the cost of a mouthguard.
Although over-the-counter mouthguards may be cheaper than custom-fitted mouthguards, they:
- Provide little or no protection to the teeth and mouth
- Can dislodge during play, and potentially be a choking hazard
- Are commonly linked with complaints about poor fit, interference with speech and difficulty breathing.
Buy a custom-fitted mouthguard from one of the following practices participating in Mouthguard March and you’ll not only be protecting a smile, you’ll be helping to improve the oral health of all Australians, as a percentage of the profits from your mouthguard will go to the eviDent Foundation.
