Introduction:
Players often get injured during sports. Contact sports are more responsible for injury, and the face is the main area of concern. Dentists are the first to deal with trauma related to face during contact injury. Dental trauma is the linking channel between sports and dentistry. Sports dentistry is related to orofacial injury, its treatment, and also its prevention. So, for its prevention and treatment part, there should be a multidisciplinary approach of operative dentistry, oral surgery, orthodontics, hospital dentistry, and patient behavior management.
What Forms of Injuries Happen During Sports and How to Prevent It?
Injury to facial structures or trauma during sports commonly presents in the form of luxation, avulsion, tooth fracture, fracture of facial bones, and concussion injuries. When the face and oral cavity are unprotected, these become the most vulnerable areas for trauma during contact sports, so preventing damage to these areas should be prioritized.
Prevention of these injuries involves the use of helmets, mouth guard, protective gear, etc. All these things reduce the impact of trauma on soft and hard tissues related to the face or oral cavity.
Teeth are more vulnerable to trauma in the dental zone, and central incisors are more commonly affected. Therefore, when it comes to school teams or professional teams related to sports, there is a need for a “Team Dentist.”
What Is the Role of a Team Dentist?
The role of a Team Dentist is to educate children or professionals about sports injuries, their prevention, and assessment of oral health. When there are more chances of contact sports injury, a custom-made mouthguard should be advised for every individual in the team. The dentist has a professional responsibility to educate people regarding issues related to sports dentistry and trauma associated with the orofacial region. With the increasing trend of sports participation in schools and colleges, protective devices and preventive options gain significance.
There should be a policy to appoint a dentist for:
- Educating children and professionals about the preventive aspect of contact sports injury.
- Screening should be done by the dentist regarding any injury-prone condition in players, such as proclined anterior or forwardly placed anterior that makes it more susceptible to injury.
- There should be a regular practice of using fitted mouth guards during sports right from the beginning.
- Dentists will be a guide not only for the prevention of sports injury but also for reducing healthcare-related costs.
- The preventive appliance or mouth guards should be comfortable, cost-effective, and have high efficacy to enhance widespread use. Bite planes, TMJ splints, mandibular repositioning appliances, acrylic splints, or interocclusal splints are thought to increase the strength of an athlete. There is decreased tendency of bone resorption and bone fracture when there is an occlusal splint during contact sports. Still, there are more chances of mandible bone fracture when there is an improper fit of the occlusal splint during the contact sports injury. So it is important that the mouth guard should have proper fit and occlusion.
What Is the Importance of Dentistry Related to Sports?
During contact sports, there will be an injury to the face, teeth, and soft and hard tissues of the oral cavity. Such injuries not only damage the structures but also affect the emotional and psychological aspects of an individual very badly. So, dentistry is needed for practical approaches to health care and to deal with emotional consequences of facial and dental trauma. Fortunately, modern dentistry possesses numerous techniques and appliances to protect the participants from a variety of injuries.
What Are the Risk Factors of Injury?
There are two types of risk factors of injury. They are:
- Extrinsic risk factors.
- Intrinsic risk factors.
1) Extrinsic Risk Factors:
- Improper training technique.
- Quality of playing surface.
- Type of equipment used.
- Climatic conditions such as rain or ice.
- Quality of supervision.
2) Intrinsic Factors:
- Physiologic or Psychological Factors - Stress, anxiety, low confidence, and performance pressure have a significant role in the performance of a player or athlete.
- Age - Growth and development-related factors, hand-eye coordination-related factors, physical maturity, body strength, and healing ability are all age-related factors. In young players with primary dentition, luxation type of injury is common, whereas trauma to permanent dentition causes fracture of the crown. It is because, in adults, the bone is highly mineralized as compared to young children.
- Gender - Some studies state that boys or men select more vigorous sports than females or girls, so the chances of injury are increased in them.
- Body Size - A number of researchers state that individuals with excessive height and weight have a greater predisposition to injury. Other predisposing factors include nutritional status, genetic condition, metabolic variation, etc.
Other risk factors for injury are special conditions such as cerebral palsy, physically disabled individuals, epilepsy, case of impaired muscular imbalance, proclined teeth, then the risk of injury increases.
How to Prevent Injuries During Sports?
The use of properly fitted, protective athletic equipment like helmets, facemasks, and mouth guards helps prevent sports injuries to the face and oral cavity.
- Helmets - They protect the skin of the scalp and ears and protect skull bones and nervous system from dangerous, life-threatening complications after an injury.
- Face Mask - It protects eyes, face, nose, zygomatic arches, mouth, and mandible. One of the significant disadvantages of a face mask is it can be easily grasped or twisted by an opponent player. So, serious neck injuries or spinal column injuries can occur.
- Mouth Guard - It is also known as gum shield. Mouthguards are of three types and are the least expensive. They are readily available. They are generally available in one size and can easily be worn by all users. They are bulky and are least retentive. They are meant to be held in place by occluding or biting teeth together. There are different types of mouth guards.
- Mouth formed mouthguard.
- Thermoplastic boil and bite mouthguard.
- Custom-made mouth guards - These have superior adaptation and retention. Also, these are more comfortable for respiration during the activity.
- Photopolymerized urethane diacrylate custom lip and mouthguard.
Conclusion:
Sports-related dental injuries are common, and they need immediate attention. For this concern, teachers, coaches, trainers, players, and parents need to be associated with dental experts to ensure comprehensive dentofacial care and education about the prevention of injury and its management.
To bring better awareness to the general population, preventive programs providing information about sports-related facial injuries and the use of preventive measures such as helmets and mouth guards should be planned. Dentists highly recommend purchasing mouthguard to prevent injuries in the oral cavity.
