At the gates of summer and the swimwear test, good intentions flock, there are those who improvise in sports and those who increase, during the day, the number of hours dedicated to sports. Sports activity is certainly an important aspect for the general well-being of the organism and its correlation with the health of the teeth is equally important.
Sports activity and dental care: what advice to follow
It is important for a sportsman, be it an agonist or a beginner, to take care of his teeth during sports activity both to protect them from damage and to prevent sports practice from adversely affecting the health of the mouth and worsening already existing situations . To this is added another important consideration: mouth care also improves sports performance.
Preventing tooth damage during sports
Team games, such as five-a-side football, volleyball, basketball or rugby can be particularly dangerous for the health of the teeth, because blows or physical clashes can favor traumatic events.
External trauma can be the cause of a tooth fracture or worse, it can cause tooth loss. If this latter hypothesis occurs, it is advisable not to panic because, if prompt intervention is made, the tooth could be immediately reimplanted.
When, following a traumatic event, the tooth can completely separate from the tissue that supports it, a part of the periodontal tissue remains in the alveolus while a remaining part continues to cover the root of the tooth. In order to proceed with the replanting, it is essential that the periodontal tissue does not die. To “keep the tooth alive” it is possible to keep it, in the race towards the dental center, in a liquid solution that can be: your own saliva, a little milk or physiological solution.
The time needed to proceed with the reimplantation is very tight, it must be considered that a tooth kept in the dry has a life of about 20 minutes, before the definitive necrosis; saliva, saline and milk can prolong this time for a few hours.
To avoid damage of this type, it is possible to think of a preventive solution that can cushion any blows to the teeth, for example the use of a mouthguard, which can be made to measure by a specialized dental center or can be purchased in standard forms.
Sports activity and dental occlusion
During sport you are likely to experience persistent pain in your jaw, neck or back. It can happen during running, during scuba diving or in other sports. Pain, in addition to making sports unpleasant, could affect performance. Il problema potrebbe essere localizzato proprio nella bocca. Dysfunction in dental occlusion, i.e. failure to align the dental arches, can lead to incorrect posture or soreness of the temporomandibular joint.
Correcting the alignment of the teeth therefore means bringing the whole body back into balance. Malocclusion is in fact also the cause of a muscular contraction that fatigues the body even when it is at rest. Dental occlusion can be corrected through specific dental devices: the bite, a transparent mask to be applied on the teeth or the orthodontic appliance.
Bringing the teeth back to their normal position means returning the muscles to a relaxed condition and the body to the exact posture. With these two conditions, the performance of sports activity will also improve.
Sports activity and oral hygiene
Fatigue during sport leads to a higher consumption of drinks, especially energy drinks. The excessive consumption of sugary or too acidic drinks can favor the proliferation of bacteria and therefore the onset of plaque and tartar.
So, if you really can’t help but sip drinks during sports, it is always advisable to rinse immediately after the mouth with water, to rebalance the pH of the mouth.
