Sports Dental
Injuries

What are sports dental injuries?

Sports dental injuries involve damage to the teeth, jaw, and soft tissues around the mouth, like the lips, gums, cheeks, and tongue. Teeth can be chipped, broken, or knocked out, and severe injuries may include a broken jaw. Sports with the highest risk of dental injuries include basketball, football, hockey, martial arts, and boxing.

Risk factors

• Playing contact sports
• Rough or illegal play
• Dental conditions like overjet (teeth sticking out) or poor lip coverage
• Higher risk for amateur athletes
• Not wearing or improperly fitting mouthguards

Examples of sporting causes of dental trauma:

• Contact with other players – tackles, clashes, elbows, or accidental head knocks.
• Impact from equipment – balls, bats, sticks, pucks, racquets, or surfboards.
• Falls and collisions – with the ground, court, fences, posts, or pool walls.
• Combat and wheel sports – direct strikes in boxing/MMA, or crashes in cycling, skateboarding, skiing.
• Indirect jaw blows – e.g. a hit to the chin forcing teeth together.

Signs and symptoms

• Bleeding from the mouth (cuts or lacerations)
• Swelling of the lips, gums, or face
• Missing, chipped, loose or broken teeth
• Pain
• Difficulty speaking or moving the jaw (for jaw fractures)

Management

Rehabilitation depends on the injury’s severity. Some injuries may need surgery, while others will heal with rest and physical therapy. Early rehab focuses on:

• Restoring pain-free movement
• Strengthening muscles and improving balance

Prompt assessment by a dentist including proper diagnosis, treatment planning, treatment, and follow up are important to assure a favourable outcome.

Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation depends on the injury’s severity. Some injuries may need surgery, while others will heal with rest and physical therapy. Early rehab focuses on:

• Restoring pain-free movement
• Strengthening muscles and improving balance

Prompt assessment by a dentist including proper diagnosis, treatment planning, treatment, and follow up are important to assure a favourable outcome.

Prevention – The importance of wearing a mouthguard

Wearing a mouthguard can reduce the risk of dental injuries by more than half. Although it’s unclear if mouthguards prevent concussions, they are essential for sports where dental injuries are common.

There are three types of mouthguards:

1. Custom-fitted mouthguards: Made by a dentist to fit perfectly, they provide the best protection and comfort.
2. Boil and bite mouthguards: Softened in boiling water and shaped to fit the teeth, these provide less protection and should be replaced each season.
3. Stock mouthguards: Pre-made and inexpensive, but they offer the least protection and comfort.

Important features of a good mouthguard:

• Comfortable but snug fit
• Allows for normal breathing and swallowing
• Doesn’t interfere with speech
• 4mm thickness for proper impact protection
• Should not cause gagging
• Odourless and tasteless

Read the Australian Dental Association’s (ADA) Guidelines for the Fabrication, Use and Maintenance of Sports Mouthguards for more information, or visit teeth.org.au