3 Common Tooth Injuries That Take Place during Sports

Posted on : 14th Jun 2018

Previously, it was something common to get hurt as an athlete and they had to accept the scar marks to prove it. Luckily, this is not the case for improper oral health these days and modern dentistry has now made it easy to repair any kind of dental trauma while you play any kind of sport. Read on to know about 3 common tooth injury that mostly occurs during sports.

1. Cracked Teeth

A cracked tooth usually occurs while playing games when there is sudden blow on the face. Players who do not wear mouth guards at the time of playing are more likely to cause damage to their teeth and mouth. This kind of tooth injury may lead to several long term problems. With proper dental trauma treatment, you can overcome such problems.

Symptoms you might experience with a cracked tooth are:

• Sharp pain at the time of biting that dissipates afterward.
• Tooth pain that comes and goes, but is not present constantly.
• Severe pain at the time of eating and drinking while consuming hot or cold foods.
• Losing a part of the outer enamel of the tooth that exposes the pulp and dentin and sometimes the surface of the root.

2. Fractured Roots

If there is a tooth injury, then this is not limited to the crown of the tooth. It might happen that a blow at the wrong angle can cause a fractured root, at first. This usually happens when a crack in the root goes into the direction of the chewing surface of tooth. Since fractures are often invisible, you might find out the problem only when there is an infection. The severity of tooth injury depends on the location of the fracture along the root. Thus, the sooner you go for root canal therapy with a root fracture for preventing the infection in the pulp, the less likely you will experience necrosis that might be the reason for tooth loss.

3. Tooth Intrusion

There are some sports injuries associated with teeth being knocked out, however it is possible for a tooth to be driven back into the jawbone. This kind of trauma is known as intrusion and this happens in a small percentage of dental injuries that involve permanent teeth. It is quite common in primary teeth as a child's alveolar bones are not hardened to the strength of an adult.

Some complications that may arise from tooth intrusion include:

• Destruction of tooth pulp that occurs due to necrosis or damage beyond recovery.
• Root resorption that happens in almost 70 percent of permanent teeth and are injured this way.
• Ankylosis is the fusion of the root of the injured tooth to the alveolar bone.

Even a tooth injury during sports has the potentiality to cause dental problems for a long time if it does not get immediate attention. If you have recently experienced a blow to the jaw or mouth area while playing, make sure you use an antibacterial mouth wash to keep it clean and hygienic. It is advised to visit an Emergency Dentist London clinic and get rid of the dental trauma quickly.