Preventing Facial Injuries, Preserving Smiles

To prevent facial injuries 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 the 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’re 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.

Use common sense. If an activity carries risk of dental/facial injury, gear up. Without it, even a neighborhood basketball game could land you or a loved one in the emergency room.