Does your child wear a mouthguard whilst they’re cycling? Did you know that they should be wearing mouthguards when playing any type of sport? Getting your child to wear a mouthguard may be something you thought about for contact sports but you may not have thought it necessary for day-to-day activities. Equally, if your child is of a young age, you may not have known that mouthguards are available for children of all ages.

However, protecting their teeth by using a mouthguard could help to prevent them from suffering a dental trauma, which is particularly important for the longevity and health of their adult teeth. A variety of mouthguards are available at a walk in dentist near you, or you may find that your local chemist or sports center has a variety available too.

Sports That Require Mouthguards

Cycling: Mouthguards are a must for children who are going out on their bikes. Even the most experienced or careful rider could hit a rock and find themselves being thrown forward face first to the ground. From BMX riders to mountain bikers on a trail, mouthguards will help to make sure your child’s teeth are as accident-proof as possible.

Skateboarding: Just like cycling, something unexpected can happen at any time in skateboarding, which is why a mouthguard is required to help prepare your child’s teeth for any eventuality. If you can, kit your child out with a mouthguard whenever they’re on their skateboard, regardless of whether they’re playing on your driveway or they’re down at the park with their friends.

Volleyball: You’d like to think that you’ll get your hands to the ball in volleyball, especially if you’re going to win the game. But, there may be times when the ball gets to your face before you’ve had chance to put your hands in front of it. So, make sure your child wears a mouthguard to protect their smile during this sport.

Softball / Baseball: These sports involve far less contact than the others but you’d be surprised at how much chance there is that a stray ball or face-plant could occur during this sport.

Surfing: Even though this is a sport that involves no contact, it’s the contact of the waves or surfboard that you should be wary of here. One big wave or wrong turn and your child could have a tooth knocked out, so have them wear a mouthguard to protect them from this.

What Traumas Mouthguards Protect Your Children From

There are a number of different oral traumas that your child can suffer from if they’re not wearing a mouthguard. These include having teeth knocked out, fracturing their tooth or having a tooth pushed into a gum. These can be incredibly painful and may lead to your child losing their tooth altogether, which is even worse if they’ve started to develop their adult teeth.

If any of these traumas occur, you should contact your dentist immediately and seek professional advice. However, if you can just get your child to wear their mouthguard whenever there’s a potential risk of sustaining such injuries, you could avoid a trip to the emergency room or your dentist!

Getting Your Child to Wear a Mouthguard

You’ve probably been reading the above thinking, “How on earth am I going to get my child to wear a mouthguard, especially when they’re playing with their friends?” Well, thankfully, dentists have thought of these scenarios and have developed a number of cool features that will help to encourage your child to wear a mouthguard.

Fun mouthguards include colorful ones that can be matched to their favorite team or color, with some dentists even offering branding on the guard. With this, your child can customize their guard to suit their favorite things so they can’t wait to pop it in their mouth and show it off to their friends. Some have even gone as far as creating mouthguards in a number of flavors, from strawberry to bubblegum. With the taste lasting quite a long time, this provides a sugary sweet way to get your child to wear their mouthguard whilst they’re playing their favorite sports.

Looking after mouthguards is easy too. Once they’ve been worn they just need to be rinsed out and cleaned like you would a set of dentures. A lot will come in hard cases too so they can just be popped away until your child needs them next.

Mike Plambeck is a dental marketing professional who writes about the world of online dental marketing as well as educational dental health topics. He lives in Lincoln, NE and raises 2 kids, Noah and Dani, along with his wife Marissa.