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Mouth Guards in Sports. Each year more than 5 million teeth are either avulsed or displaced due to a sports injury. In many cases the loss or damage to teeth can be attributed to the absence of a mouth guard or to a poorly fabricated or ill-fitting one.

Sports Injuries in our Youth. A question that crosses every parent’s mind, especially if their child is involved in any organized sports is, ‘will my son or daughter get injured playing? And because my child is young and still growing, is there any way for me to lessen the severity of a potential injury.

Sports and Dental Injuries in Children. Dental injury in sports is a commonly encountered issue for both children and adults. All sports carry a risk for injury while contact sports carry the highest risks for dental related injuries. Parents who actively enroll their children in sports must be aware of the potential risks for dental injury in order to make the necessary measures to minimize them.

Dental Sports Guards . Over the counter dental sports guards are cheaper than the custom ones made by the dentist. The reason is that the material used for over the counter sports guards are not durable and very thick. Also they are ill fitting and uncomfortable.

Pain Medication. Patient’s with pain in the pulp of the tooth are usually given pain medications such as:
Motrin or ibuprofen which have an anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect.
If stronger pain medications are needed usually Vicodin or Hydrocodone can also be prescribed.

Sports Injuries and TMJ. Sport induced TMJ can be caused either by a traumatic blow to the jaw or muscle strain that puts stress on the tempromandibular joint. It’s also possible to suffer TMJ because you are overworking your jaw during sports. Clenching your teeth is common when you are trying to use all your strength.

Alternatives to Amalgam Fillings. Dr. Paul with Zak Dental discusses alternatives to amalgam fillings. He speaks about direct composite restorations, indirect ceramic restorations and other alternatives to dental fillings.

Sedation in Pediatric Dentistry. One of the most common methods used to sedate children in dentistry is nitrous oxide also known as laughing gas. Nitrous oxide is used for its calming effect. It makes the patient feel more relaxed. You breathe in nitrous thru a mask that covers your nose. It takes a few minutes ti notice the effect.

Why the concern about mercury in amalgam? Because, everyone is exposed to mercury through air, drinking water, soil and food. Therefore, concerns have been raised, for instance, about the amount of mercury building up in fish as a result of pollution. Mercury enters the air from industries that burn mercury-containing fuels.

Early Childhood Caries is a devastating problem in young children. Not only can it cause pain and loss of teeth, but it also affects self-esteem, speech development, nutrition, and school attendance. Early Childhood Caries (ECC) is any tooth decay in a child under 6 years of age.