Play It Safe and Gear Up with a Sport Mouthguard

At Eder Orthodontics, we know how important it is to protect your teeth and your face while playing sports. With the arrival of spring and summer there is an increase in outdoor activities and a greater chance of damaging your mouth and teeth. Dr. Eder knows that sports-related injuries are very common among children and teenagers alike and is happy to be a part of the AAO "Play it Safe" campaign. The American Association of Orthodontists is promoting their campaign to encourage youth of all ages to gear up and play it safe by wearing mouthguards when participating in any sporting activity.  

The following are some interesting statistics that the AAO has listed on their website and should be considered when deciding if your child needs a mouthguard when participating in their sport of choice.

Injuries can happen at any age or skill level – More than half of the seven million sports and recreation-related injuries that occur each year are sustained by youth between ages 5 and 24. *

• Collision and contact sports have higher injury rates. Baseball, soccer, basketball and football account for about 80% of all sports-related emergency room visits for children between 5 and 14 years of age.*
• Mouth guard use is very low – 67% of parents say their child does not wear a mouth guard – yet, 70% say their biggest fear when their child plays is that they will get hurt.**
• One out of every four (27%) parents say their child has sustained an injury during an organized sport resulting in a trip to the emergency room.**
• Most coaches and leagues are not advising the use of mouth guards – Of the parents whose children do not wear a mouth guard, 84% say it's because the league or coach does not require it.**
• Hard hits occur no matter what the sport – The average high school baseball pitcher can throw a fast ball between 75-85 miles per hour. This compares to being hit in the mouth by a speeding car.***
• Cheerleading is one of the most dangerous sports, accounting for 65% of all injuries in high school girls' athletics.****
• Children with braces need to wear mouth guards – One out of every three (31%) parents say their child has orthodontic treatment or braces while playing an organized sport.*
• Lacerations can occur if an orthodontic patient´s mouth is not properly protected.

* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
** American Association of Orthodontists
*** eFastball.com
**** MSNBC.com

These are just a few reasons that Dr. Eder and the Eder Orthodontics team are doing our part to spread the word that facial sports injuries can be avoided simply by reminding your kids to wear mouth guards. At our office we have a variety of mouthguards available for patients of all ages. We even has an in-house Jawzz Professional Mouthguard maker that specializes in  mouthguards for professional and amateur athletes of all ages.

                  Click Here to Check Out Some Really Cool Jawzz Mouthguards!

Braces and Food- What Foods to Avoid

The holidays are a time of celebrations with friends and family and lots of good food. Temptations abound at holiday parties where bowls of mixed nuts, candies and chips are on every table. While it may be difficult to resist these temptations and pass on the chips and dip, it’s necessary if you want to avoid broken brackets and the poking wires that often accompany them.  This doesn’t mean however, that you can’t enjoy a very delicious holiday dinner with family and friends, it just means that you have to make careful selections when hitting the buffet table.

The following foods should be avoided if you don’t want to break a bracket:

·         Hard Candy – avoid all hard candy, including candy canes, lifesavers, Tic Tacs, breath mints, etc, because even if you think that you can resist the temptation to bite into it, chances are, you won’t.

·         Chewy Candy – avoid chewy candy of any kind, including Gummy Bears, licorice, caramels, Starburst, Taffy, etc, because they will stick to your teeth and if your bracket doesn’t break when you are eating it, chances are it will break when you are trying to get all the soft gooey stuff from between your teeth and from around the brackets.

·         Hard Gum or Gum with a Candy Shell – examples of the types of gum that should be avoided include Bazooka, Chicklets, Dentyne Ice, Gumballs, etc.

·         Nuts – doesn’t matter what type they are, pass them up now and avoid the broken brackets and extra visits to the orthodontist later to fix them.

·         Hard tacos, pretzels, popcorn or thick chips like Doritos – Just Say NO!!

·         Corn on the Cob - Cut if off and you should be okay.

·         Toasted Bagel, Pizza Crust or Hard Crusty Rolls – Opt for the soft rolls and you should be okay, but everything else needs to be avoided.

·         Chunky Ice Cream – This delicious treat has many hidden gems that can cause broken brackets.

·         Ice Cubes – It’s okay to have them in your drink, but not in your mouth! That includes ice chips too!