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Now that the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup is well on its way, and the talented ladies representing the United States are continuing to climb the ranks in the tournament, it won’t be long before soccer fever sweeps the nation. People all over the country are going to feel inspired to get outside and play some soccer in the spirit of the WWC. However, this fact has gotten dental implants San Jose dentist Dr. Cooper wondering if he and that staff at Contemporary Dental Arts are going to be seeing a fresh influx of patients in need of emergency dental care.
Now, you might be wondering why the thought of soccer fever hitting the nation would bring up such a grim concern in Dr. Cooper. You might also be wondering what soccer and emergency dental care have to do with one another.
Well then by all means let us elaborate. There is a reason for our concern when it comes to teeth and soccer, or really, sports in general. Just take a look at some of these statistics.
Nearly 5 million teeth are avulsed (knocked out) each year. Many of these teeth are lost during sporting activities. These facts have resulted in an annual $500 million dollars spent each year replacing missing teeth.
Holy cow!
Even more worrying is the fact that, according to an issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association, a staggering 13-39% of all dental injuries, annually, are sports related in nature. The information that gave the results for this study was gathered from reviewing reported dental injuries from all over the world in the last thirty years.
But hold up a moment! There’s more. This isn’t even the most concerning part.
Take a looks at American football for a second. American football is a sport in which the wearing of protective gear is mandatory. Statistics show that about 75% of players choose to wear mouth guards despite the fact that their helmets have protective face masks. Now, that’s not so bad. 75% is pretty decent. It’s not great, but we’ll take what we can get here in the dental field.
Now let’s look at soccer. Beautiful, rough and tumble soccer. This is a sport that really has no requirements for the wearing of protective gear. With this information in mind now consider that only a staggering 7% of players choose to wear a mouthguard. There are no helmets or protective face masks in soccer either. Still, the majority of players do not even think about the safety of their teeth when they step onto the field.
This seems a bit crazy to us here at Contemporary Dental Arts. The sport where the least amount of protective gear is required is also the sport in which people choose to wear the least in.
You also have to take into consideration the fact that soccer is a very physical sport. Many players often experience elbows to the mouth, slide tackles or having another player’s head smash into their unprotected mouths.
So what does Dr. Cooper suggest to all his soccer hungry fans who can’t wait to get outside and kick the ball around? Where a mouth guard for teeth’s sake! SHEESH!
Other than that, get outside and go run, jump and play. And don’t forget to keep rooting team USA.
Until next time readers, keep smiling.