Sports Guards in Pine Beach, NJ
If you like playing competitive sports, Dr. Mariya Medlenov can customize a sports guard to protect your teeth while you play. This helps prevent you from having to come to Century Dental East for a dental emergency later down the road. If this is a service you would like to receive from our dentist, call 732-341-6010 to learn more about sports guards in Pine Beach, New Jersey!
Our dentist and team are dedicated to keeping your smile healthy and free from discomfort. To help us do this, we provide several types of mouth guards at our office. For our athletic patients, we often recommend a type of mouth guard called an athletic mouth guard or sports guard. Sports guards fit over your teeth while you play sports and participate in other athletic activities to protect your smile from injury. Sports guards are especially important for our patients who play high-contact sports such as wrestling, football, hockey and rugby; however, all types of athletes can benefit from an athletic mouth guard. Whether you play soccer, basketball or baseball, a sports guard can be a great way to protect your smile and keep it safe.
While a number of types of athletic mouth guards are available, a custom-made mouth guard is the most effective in protecting your smile. This type of mouth guard is designed to comfortably fit your smile and prevent dental injury, such as knocked out and chipped teeth. A sports guard can also help to prevent injury to the soft tissues of the mouth, including the tongue, lips, cheeks and gums.
We invite you to contact our office today to learn more about mouth guards and their benefits. We look forward to caring for your smile!
Who Needs a Sports Mouthguard?
More athletes than most people assume, and not only the ones in helmets.
Contact sports are the obvious case
Football, hockey, wrestling, lacrosse, rugby and boxing all carry a clear risk of a blow to the face, and a mouthguard is standard equipment. Many leagues in Ocean County require one before an athlete can take the field.
Non-contact sports carry real risk too
A large share of dental injuries happen in sports with no intentional contact at all. An elbow in a basketball rebound, a collision going for a header in soccer, a fall from a skateboard or a bike, a stray softball, a gymnastics landing that goes wrong. The tooth does not know whether the contact was intended.
Children and teens. Young athletes are still growing, and a lost permanent tooth at twelve means decades of replacement work.
Adults in rec leagues. Weeknight basketball and adult hockey produce the same injuries as school sports.
Anyone with braces or dental work. A guard protects the appliance and the soft tissue around it as well as the teeth.
Athletes who already grind. If you clench under exertion, ask about a night guard as well.
Custom Sports Guards vs. Boil-and-Bite
The guard that gets worn is the one that fits, and the one that fits protects more.
Stock and boil-and-bite guards
Stock guards come ready to wear in a few sizes and are held in place by clenching the teeth together, which makes talking and breathing harder. Boil-and-bite guards soften in hot water and take a rough impression of the teeth, so they fit better, but the thickness ends up uneven, they loosen with use and they are often trimmed down by the athlete until little protection is left.
Custom-made sports guards
A custom guard is made from an impression of your own teeth. That means it stays in place without being held, allows normal speech and breathing, and keeps a consistent thickness where impact is most likely. Athletes wear these because they can forget they are wearing them.
Fit.
Retained by the shape of your teeth, not by biting down.
Coverage.
Designed to shield the front teeth and cushion the jaw, and to protect the lips, cheeks and tongue from being cut against the teeth.
Comfort.
Easier to talk and breathe in, which matters over a full game.
Growth.
For younger athletes, the fit is reviewed as the mouth changes.
What a Dental Injury Costs an Athlete
The real price of a knocked-out tooth is measured in appointments and years, not just in treatment.
A single hit can start a long chain of care
A tooth that is chipped, cracked, displaced or knocked out is a dental emergency. It usually means an urgent visit, time away from school or work, and treatment that does not end with the first appointment. A tooth that has been repaired often needs rechecking for years, and a tooth that cannot be saved has to be replaced and then maintained for the rest of a lifetime.
Missed time. Games and practices sat out, plus school or work hours spent in the chair.
Repeat treatment. A traumatized tooth may later need root canal therapy or a dental crown, sometimes long after the injury.
Soft tissue damage. Lips and cheeks cut against the teeth heal slowly and can scar.
If an injury does happen, act quickly. Keep any knocked-out tooth moist, in milk or in the athlete's own saliva, do not scrub it, and get to a dentist as soon as possible. Our emergency dental care page explains what to do in the first hour.
Caring for a Sports Guard
Between practices and games
A sports guard lives in a gym bag, which is the hardest environment a dental appliance can face. A few habits keep it clean and keep its shape.
Rinse it before and after play. Cool water, then a soft brush with mild soap when you get home.
Never use hot water. Heat distorts the material and ruins the fit. The same goes for leaving it in a car in summer.
Store it dry and vented. A perforated case lets it dry instead of growing bacteria in a sealed bag.
Do not chew on it. Chewing thins the guard exactly where it is needed most.
Bring it to checkups. We check it for wear and, for younger athletes, for fit as teeth shift and erupt.
Get fitted for a sports guard in Pine Beach
Before the next season starts, a single appointment is enough to have a custom sports mouthguard made. Call Century Dental East at (732) 341-6010 or contact us to arrange a fitting with Dr. Mariya Medlenov.
Visit Our Pine Beach Office
Century Dental East: Gentle, Modern Dentistry for Families in Pine Beach, NJ.
241 Washington Avenue, Pine Beach, NJ 08741
(732) 341-6010
Hours
Mon 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Tue 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Wed 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Thu 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Fri-Sun Closed
Serving patients across
- Toms River
- Lakewood
- Lakehurst
- Forked River
- Bayville
- Beachwood
- Pine Beach
- Barnegat Light
- Ocean Gate
- Maple Shade
- Leisure Village
- Cedar Grove
- Waretown
- Howardsville
- Brookville
- Holly Park
- South Toms River