3 Common Tooth Injuries That Take Place during Sports

15 May 2024

You don’t have to suffer needlessly after sports accidents involving the teeth. Luckily, modern dentistry has now made it easier to repair 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 to 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 the accident 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
• Sharp edges of the broken tooth cutting the lip or tongue.
• 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, that 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 occurs due to trauma. Since fractures are often invisible, you might find out the problem only when attending the dentist or 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 assessment and treatment with a root fracture, 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.
• Severe pain, bleeding and swelling.
• 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 the Emergency Dentist London clinic and deal with the dental trauma quickly.