Orofacial and dental trauma continues to be an issue that is commonly encountered issue by the team of the sports medicine. All sports possess some risk for dental injury, but “contact sports” generally sustains more risk. Proper management and evaluation on an immediate basis of the most common injuries to the arrangement of the teeth can result in saving or restoration of the structure of tooth. Dental Sport injuries that are commonly noticed include tooth intrusion, extrusion, tooth (crown) fractures; temporomandibular joint dislocation and avulsion. Mouth guards assist in the prevention of most injuries and do not significantly make an impact to the ventilation or speech if fitted in a proper manner.

Some of the common types of dental sport injuries are:

1. Cracked Teeth
A fractured or cracked tooth, which has varying degree of severity, occurs most often during sports when the player experiences a sudden blow to the face.

Symptoms that one might experience with a cracked tooth involve:

i. A sharp pain when one bite down, which disappears afterward.
ii. Tooth pain that comes and goes, but is not present in a constant manner.
iii. Pain while drinking and eating, especially when one consume cold or hot foods.
iv. Losing a section of the outer enamel shell of the tooth which gives exposure to the pulp and the dentin and sometimes the surface of the root.

2. Fractured Roots

A tooth injury in sports is not always restricted to the crown of the tooth, either. It is likely that a blow that is hit at the wrong angle can cause a fractured root, first. This occurs when a crack starting in the root travels in the direction of the chewing surface of the tooth. As fractures are not often visible, so one might only discover the problem when the development of the infection takes place. The severe nature of this type of tooth injury is dependent on the location of the fracture along the root. Sooner a patient with a root fracture receives the therapy of root canal (also referred to as endodontic treatment) to prevent infection in the pulp; the less likely they are to encounter necrosis which leads to tooth loss.

3. Tooth Intrusion

Sports injuries are usually connected with teeth getting uprooted, though it is feasible for a tooth to be driven back into the jawbone instead. This kind of trauma is known as intrusion, in accordance to The Dental Trauma Guide, and it occurs in a minor percentage of dental injuries including permanent teeth. It is seen to be more common in primary teeth as the alveolar bones of the child which hold the tooth sockets, are not hardened enough in comparison to the strength of an adult.

Dental Clinic on Richardson Road provides the dental services for such kind of injuries at an affordable cost.