Sports Safety: Are Your Kids Taking Unnecessary Risks?

Survey of parents says "yes"

ST. LOUIS — In a matter of seconds a sports injury can occur to the face or the mouth. Young children ages 5 to 14 are especially vulnerable, accounting for more than 80 percent of all sports-related emergency room visits according to the Centers for Disease Control. Because many sports injuries can be prevented by wearing the proper protective gear, why aren't more parents, coaches and kids getting the message?

Each April during National Facial Protection Month, the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) urges athletes to "play it safe" by wearing mouth guards and other appropriate protective gear when participating in many sports and activities. This year, the AAO went a step further and commissioned a survey* of parents to determine why many "preventable" face and mouth injuries are still so prevalent among young athletes. Lack of knowledge — specifically about which sports and skill levels benefit from protective gear — topped the list.

Findings include:

• 67 percent of parents surveyed said that their child does not wear a mouth guard. 52 percent said that it was because their child "doesn’t need that level of protection."
  
• 96 percent of parents surveyed believed that their child’s coaches' role on the use/promotion of protective sports gear was "important," "very important" or "extremely important," yet parents surveyed reported that 36 percent of coaches actually recommend the use of mouth guards during competitions while 34 percent recommend mouth guards during practice.
• According to parents surveyed, the most popular sports that children wear mouth guards while playing, include football (42 percent), ice hockey (32 percent) and martial arts (13 percent).
• Of the parents surveyed, the most popular form of protective sports gear for children participating in organized sports include shoes/cleats (67 percent), helmet/headgear (51 percent), shin guards (48 percent) and knee pads (34 percent).

The AAO recommends that mouth guards be worn for contact sports. Such sports include, but are not limited to, football, wrestling, basketball, baseball, volleyball, lacrosse, ice and field hockey, softball, and soccer. Mouth guards also should be worn when participating in any activity where the mouth might come into contact with a hard object or the ground. Mouth guards can help prevent jaw, mouth and teeth injuries and are less costly than repairing an injury.

"I've seen too many children and adults ruin their healthy, beautiful smiles — or worse — because they fail to wear a mouth guard during practices and games," says William Gaylord, DDS, MSD, orthodontist and AAO president. "Precaution and common sense are key to preventing injuries."

Mouth guards are one of the least expensive pieces of protective equipment available. Over-the-counter versions can be purchased inexpensively, although custom-fit mouth guards offer greater protection. While mouth guards can help to save teeth and protect jaws from breaks, they also may protect against injuries to the neck and central nervous system by decreasing the force transmitted through the jaw to the base of the skull. An orthodontist can recommend the best mouth guard for an athlete who wears braces.

Mouth guards can provide protection only when they are worn, so parents and coaches should remind youngsters to always wear them when participating in any activity during which the mouth might come into contact with a hard object, another player or pavement. Consistent use of other protective equipment is important, too. Mandated for many organized sports, helmets save lives and prevent head injuries. Face guards, devices made of plastic or metal that attach to baseball helmets, also help to prevent facial injuries.

How can kids and other athletes play it safe? Just remember these important tips:

• Wear mouth guards for contact sports. Mouth guards can help prevent jaw, mouth and teeth injuries and are less costly than repairing an injury.
• Wear a helmet. Helmets absorb the energy of an impact.
• Wear protective eyewear. Eyes are extremely vulnerable.
• Wear a face shield to avoid scratched or bruised skin. Hockey pucks, basketballs, and racquetballs can do severe damage.
• Be alert even as a spectator. Alert spectators can avoid foul baseballs and flying hockey pucks. Watch your step when climbing bleachers.

In addition:

• Be aware of family pets. According to the Harvard Medical Health Letter, about 44,000 people suffer facial injuries from dog bites annually. Supervise children when they are with pets (including cats and rabbits, too).
• Buckle up and use child safety seats. Unbuckled passengers are more likely to suffer a brain injury in a crash than the buckled driver.
• Keep babies and toddlers safe. They crawl and climb, so pad sharp corners of tables, lock cabinets, install stairwell safety gates, and secure windows. They also teethe, so hide sharp pencils.
• Use common sense. If an activity carries risk of dental/facial injury, gear up. Without it, even a basketball game could land you or a loved one in the emergency room.

National Facial Protection Month is sponsored annually in April by the American Association of Orthodontists, the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.

About the American Association of Orthodontists:

The AAO comprises 15,500 members in the United States, Canada and abroad. Founded in 1900, the AAO supports research and education leading to quality patient care and promotes increased public awareness of the need for and benefits of orthodontic treatment. Orthodontists are uniquely qualified to correct improperly aligned teeth and jaws. They are specialists in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of dental and facial irregularities. Orthodontists receive an additional two to three years of specialized education beyond dental school to learn the proper way to align and straighten teeth. Only those with this formal education may call themselves "orthodontists," and only orthodontists are eligible for membership in the AAO.
For more information about orthodontics or for the names of AAO member orthodontists in your area, visit www.braces.org Your dentist can refer you to orthodontists near you.

*The AAO commissioned Impulse Research Corp. to conduct the AAO 2008 Protective Sports Gear Survey. The survey was conducted in February 2008 online with a random sample of 1,049 men and women, ages 18 years old or older, from the U.S. and Canada. Survey participants were carefully selected to closely match U.S. and Canadian population demographics and the respondents are representative of American and Canadian men and women 18 years old or older who have children between the ages of eight and 18, who participate in organized sports. The overall sampling error rate for this survey is +/- 3 percent at the 95 percent level of confidence.