DANVILLE, Pa. — Geisinger pediatric dentists see sports-related injuries every week that could have been prevented with mouthguards.
The two sports most associated with dental injuries might not be the ones you would think of— baseball and basketball.
"The reason why we don't see it in field hockey and lacrosse and football and some of those more contact sports is because mouthguards are required with those sports," said Dr. Natalie Stinton, a pediatric dentist with Geisinger.
April is National Facial Protection Month. Geisinger is stressing the importance of wearing a mouthguard, especially once permanent teeth come in.
Dr. Stinton says if a player is not wearing a mouthguard and gets a ball or elbow to the face, they are more likely to have a tooth injury.
"What we see is patients that are playing sports get injuries to the face. They break a tooth. They lose a tooth. Sometimes they break bones in the face."
Dr. Stinton says if you lose a tooth, immediately put it in a glass of milk.
"If you do that, we can sometimes save the tooth. We can put the tooth back into the mouth, but if it's dry for too long, then we've lost the ability to do that."
If you do have a tooth injury, it's important to follow up with your dentist.
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