There is a lot of money tied up in straightening your child's teeth, so it makes sense you want to protect the braces during your child's first foray into playing baseball. A mouthguard is an ideal way to ensure a ball or bat does undo the straightening progress if they get too close to your child's mouth. However, because your child is wearing braces, it is not as simple as buying an over-the-counter mouthguard at your local sports shop. These are the two points you need to consider about teeth and braces protection before your child attends their first baseball training session.
Teeth Stability
The first problem that occurs when a child plays a sport while wearing braces comes about because the teeth are in the process of being moved. This movement means your child's teeth are looser in their mouth when compared to a child who does not wear braces.
Before starting a new sports season, it is important your child has a braces check-up with the orthodontist. Let the dentist know they are about to start playing baseball, so adjustments are made to the braces to keep the teeth tightly in place within the mouth.
Custom-Fit Mouthguard
A custom-fit mouthguard is a must-have protection device to keep the braces protected while playing baseball. The two cheaper options of mouthguard, which are the one-size-fits-all and the boil and bite, do not offer adequate protection to a child who wears braces.
The over-the-counter mouthguard is too narrow to fit over the brace's wires and cover the teeth. A boil-and-bite mouthguard offers more protection than the standard one, but again there is not enough material to fully cover the wires and clips that make up the braces. Braces that are not fully covered by a mouthguard cut the inside of your child's cheek if they come into contact with the interior of the mouth due to contact with a bat or ball. They can also be knocked off the teeth if the mouth is hit by an object.
Finally, your child's teeth move slowly into their new position thanks to the changes made in the tension of the braces. Buying the wrong type of mouthguard could undo all that hard work because a basic mouthguard will try to move the teeth back into the original position aligned inside the mouthguard.
Your orthodontist can organise the right type of mouthguard to keep your child's teeth safe during baseball. It does take a couple of weeks to get a custom mouthguard made, so make sure you get the process underway sooner rather than later.
Share15 August 2017
I have worked as a school nurse for decades. Children come to me with all sorts of scrapes and bumps and bruises. Black eyes from playing football, sprained wrists from falling off the monkey bars and stomachaches from too many sweets are common complaints. However, the issue that seems to cause the greatest angst is tooth problems. Sometimes a child will have a second tooth knocked out when playing sport and parents arrive in tears. At other times, children come to my office crying because their friends are teasing them about teeth that are discoloured or stick out. I take an active interest in the latest dental news so that I can give parents and children comfort and advice. I have included some of my collected wisdom on these pages. Perhaps this information can help you understand some options when faced with a dental problem. Thank you for reading.