Sport's Dentistry

Sports dentistry is the treatment and prevention of oral/facial athletic injuries and related oral diseases and manifestations.

In some sports, injury prevention, through properly fitted mouth guards are considered essential. These are the contact sports of football, boxing, martial arts, and hockey. Other sports, traditionally classified as non contact sports, basketball, baseball, bicycle riding, roller blading, soccer, wrestling, racquetball, surfing, and skateboarding also require properly fitted mouth guards, as dental injuries unfortunately, are a negative aspect of participation in these sports.

SPORT DENTISTRY FACTS:

• Dental Injuries are the most common type of or facial injury sustained during participation in sports. The majority of these dental injuries are preventable.
   

• An athlete is 60 times more likely to sustain damage to the teeth when not wearing a protective mouth guard.
   

• The cost of treating a fractured tooth is many times greater than the cost of a dentist diagnosed and designed professionally make mouth guard.
   

• Every athlete involved in contact sports has a 10% chance per season of a or facial injury, and a 33-56% chance during an athletic career.
   

• Victims of knocked out teeth who do not have a tooth properly preserved or replanted may face lifetime dental costs, hours in the dental chair, and the possible development of other dental problems such as periodontal disease.
   

• It is estimated that faceguards and mouth guards prevent approximately 200,000 injuries each year in high school and college football alone.
   

• The stock mouth guard which is bought in sport stores without an individual fitting, provide only a low level of protection. If the wearer is rendered unconscious, there is a risk the mouthguard may lodge in the throat potentially causing an airway obstruction.

CUSTOM MADE MOUTH GUARDS:

The custom make mouth guards are fabricated and designed by Dr. Kopko, and are the most satisfactory of all types of mouth protectors. They fulfill all the criteria for adaptation, retention, comfort and stability of material. They interfere the least with speaking and breathing.

As a member of the Academy of Sports Dentistry and the Official Team Dentist for the Pensacola Ice Pilots, Dr. Kopko highly endorses the Pressure Laminated Mouthguards.

THE ADVANTAGES OF THE PRESSURE FORMED LAMINATED MOUTHGUARDS:

• Precise adaptation
   

• Negligible deformation when worn for a period of time. The combination of the relatively high heat and pressure used in the construction of the laminated mouth guard means that the mouth guard material has virtually no elastic memory.
   

• The ability to thicken any area as required as well as place any inserts that may be needed for additional wear protection.

“ As a Sports Dentist and health professional, I highly recommend the custom made mouth guard, especially those of the laboratory lamination type for the very best in oral/facial protection as well as concussion deterrence.”

Dr Kopko

Please call our office to discuss the benefits that a Pressure Laminated Mouthguard could provide for your team or for the novist sports participant.