The start of each school year brings with it a long list of needs for your child. Stationery supplies, schoolbag, lunchbox, water bottle and uniform are all items that parents seek to replace. But when was the last time you took a closer look at your child's sports mouthguard at the beginning of the school year? As school sports and other outdoor activities become popular again, now is the perfect time to inspect your child's mouthguard, and here are three reasons why.
Change Of Fit
During the year, a child's teeth change in many ways. Not only do baby teeth fall out to be replaced by permanent adult teeth, but your child's jawline grows and moves. Because of these changes and growth, a sports mouthguard that fit perfectly a year ago may not fit so well now. A bad fitting mouthguard is almost as bad as not wearing any mouthguard at all. It does not protect the teeth while sports are played. It will also cause irritation within the mouth as it moves around during the sports game.
Bacteria Growth
Children may not be the best at keeping their mouthguards clean, and over the course of a year's use the mouthguard slowly builds up a layer of bacteria. Bacteria loves moist, dark hiding places, and once the mouthguard is put back into the mouth, that bacteria then clings to the teeth. Bacteria feed on food scraps and cause plaque, which then turns into cavities in your child's teeth. Bearing in mind that the mouthguard has been tucked away somewhere over the school holidays with no cleaning, it is likely there are high bacterial counts in the mouthguard. Throwing it away and starting afresh is a hygienic choice.
Opportunity For Dental Checkup
To have a custom mouthguard made, you need to pay a visit to your dentist, and needing a new mouthguard means you have the opportunity to get your child's teeth checked at the same time. Combining the annual checkup and a mouthguard fitting means you kill two birds with one stone. You can make sure there are no cavities or teeth alignment issues while ensuring their teeth are protected while playing sports.
Now that you know your child's mouthguard needs replacing, make an appointment with your dentist to get a new one fitted now. By getting this task taken care of at the beginning of the year, you know you have a full 12 months of protected teeth ahead.
Share29 January 2019
When I had my first child, I was a nervous wreck. Every book I read gave different advice, and I just wanted to be right! By the time I had my third child, some of the stress had abated. I now realised, there were tons of different perspectives on everything related to raising children including dentistry. To help parents, I have created this blog dedicated to unraveling dental myths about children. I am including posts that weigh both sides of issues such as thumb sucking, dental caries, breastfeeding, flossing and any other topic I can think of. I hope you find the information you need to unravel dental myths, but most importantly, I hope you find some peace of mind. With kids and dentistry, there can be more than one right answer, and I want you to be able to relax and go with the answer that's right for you.
