Custom Mouthguards In Wayland Save Smiles & Prevent CTE

After dealing with bullies at school, your mild-mannered daughter asked if she could take up a sport to help her get stronger and give her the confidence she lost from interacting with her terrible classmates. Being open to the idea, you decided on boxing as the sport of choice – after all, she promised never to use her skills against anyone, and you know she’s a good kid. When you hit the gym for the first session, her trainer tells you she needs a custom mouthguard in Wayland to protect her from injuries. In this post, the team at Wayland Dental explains why these devices are necessary to your smile, as well as your brain health.

Why Are Mouthguards Important?

Each year, over 200,000 oral injuries occur and the National Institute of Health reports that almost 40% of these are sports-related. Athletes have at least a 10% chance of sustaining an injury to the mouth during any season of play, and kids are at an even higher risk since contact sports (and rough-housing) are popular. As your premier Wayland dentist, Dr. Michael A. Putt and Dr. Tevyah Dines know these statistics and have seen the damage up close – that’s why they offer comfortable, customized mouthguards to keep you healthy.

How Can I Fight The Long Term Effects Of Dental Injuries From Sports?

Mouthguards are not only important in preventing chipped, broken, and missing teeth, as well as cuts in the mouth, they can also reduce the risk of traumatic brain injuries for athletes. Since they’re 100% custom-fitted to your mouth, they work to reduce the occurrence of concussions by effectively absorbing shock to the mouth.

And, avoiding concussions makes you less susceptible to developing CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) that occurs after repeated head injuries. CTE can cause memory loss, aggression, and other symptoms of premature dementia – all things athletes and their families want to avoid.

Even though mouthguards may feel a bit different at first, and take some getting used to, our comfortable devices can protect not only your smile, but your brain health, too.

Now that you know why mouthguards are so important, schedule your appointment with Wayland Dental today to keep your smile – and your mind – as sharp as your athletic skills.