SURREY – April is National Facial Protection Month, and Dr. Aly Kanani wants to remind parents, coaches and athletes to play it safe as they prepare to suit up for recreational and organized sports.
A child’s mouth and face can be easily injured if the proper precautions are not used while playing sports. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control, more than half of the 7 million sports—and recreation-related injuries that occur each year are sustained by youth as young as age 5. Last year, The National Youth Sports Safety Foundation forecasted that more than 3 million teeth would be knocked out in youth sporting events – yet, in a survey commissioned by the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO), a partner of the Canadian Association of Orthodontists, 67% of parents admitted that their child does not wear a mouth guard during organized sports. This raises a question: if mouth guards offer a simple and inexpensive solution to help dramatically decrease the risk of oral injuries, why aren’t more kids wearing them?
The AAO/CAO found that 84% of children do not wear mouth guards while playing organized sports because they are not required to wear them, even though they are required to wear other protective materials such as helmets and shoulder pads. Mouth guards can be one of the least expensive pieces of protective equipment available, with a simple over-the-counter version costing as little as $5. Not only do mouth guards save teeth, they help protect jaws. Children wearing braces have slightly higher risk of oral injuries, including mouth lacerations, if they are hit in the mouth by a ball or another player. An orthodontist can recommend the best mouth guard for an athlete who wears braces.
“Each year I see a significant number of children with dental injuries that resulted from failure to wear a mouth guard,” said Dr. Kanani, orthodontist at Guildford Orthodontic Centre and Langley Orthodontics. “I urge parents and coaches to require mouth guards as part of a child’s uniform – for every practice and every game.”
