sports

Sports Drinks and Braces

May 28th, 2018

Today I thought we could chat about one of the common challenges for patients with braces and clear aligners - sports drinks!
Many of our patients are in middle and high school. Not surprisingly, at this age, they’re often becoming increasingly competitive in their favorite sports and taking their competition more seriously. This usually means more time spent training, and often, the use of sports drinks for hydration.
Sports drinks serve an important purpose. They replenish electrolytes and provide energy for continued exercise. However, due to their sugar content, they present some risks to be aware of. Many children and teens think of sports drinks as “healthy” because they go hand-in-hand with sporting events, but as far as your teeth and your blood sugar are concerned, they essentially behave no differently than soda!
Our advice when using sports drinks can be summed up in three key points:
1. Use them only during sports. It isn’t necessary to drink sports drinks throughout the day. They’re meant to get sugar and electrolytes into your bloodstream quickly for use during activity. When used at other times of day, they provide empty calories and no advantages compared to fueling and hydrating with healthy foods and water.
2. Perform good dental hygiene after using sports drinks just like you would with any other sugary foods. After use, it can be helpful to swish with water if brushing isn’t an immediate option. And, of course, never head to bed without brushing thoroughly!! (Even if you’re exhausted from the big game!)
3. Never use sports drinks while wearing clear aligners. The fluid can get trapped against your teeth under the aligner and result in prolonged exposure of your teeth to the sugar. The worst part is that your saliva can’t reach the teeth to rinse them off, and the result is much worse than simply sipping the beverage with an empty mouth.
If you keep these tips in mind, you should be able to use sports drinks AND enjoy a healthy smile!!

Braces and Sports

April 2nd, 2018

Orthodontic Mouth Guard

Spring sports season is in full swing these days, and we get lots of questions about how braces will influence playing sports.  These questions usually surround concerns regarding 1) injury, and 2) time spent wearing elastics and retainers.

In the case of many sports, especially those involving lots of contact like basketball and wrestling, or those involving balls and/or equipment that could accidentally contact a player's face, parents are wise to seek extra protection for their child's teeth.  Generally we advise that any sport that recommends a mouthguard, even if it isn't a requirement, is a sport in which the player should definitely be proactive about protecting his or  her teeth.  Certainly, you want to be cautious even without braces.  Any patient can experience an injury that leads to the loss of or damage to a tooth or teeth.  With braces on, the risk of injury to the lips and gums are also increased because of the extra appliances in the mouth.  Wearing a mouthguard can reduce the risk of teeth being broken or knocked out.  In addition, the plastic from the mouthguard separates the braces from the lips, helping to avoid cuts and soft-tissue injury.

Sometimes wearing a mouthguard can be more challenging with braces.  There are ready-made orthodontic mouthguards available that you can invest in with special grooves where the braces fit.  You can also use a traditional boil-and-bite mouthguard with braces.  The way you fabricate your guard will simply be a little bit different.  Before biting into the warm mouthguard, take a strip of wax and lay it across your braces.  This will prevent the plastic from flowing into the grooves around the braces and wires and becoming difficult to remove.  Finally, there are some appliances that we use in conjunction with braces (like the Forsus appliance, for example) which make it difficult to wear a full-length mouthguard.  We advise, in these cases, that you cut the back portion of the mouthguard off to shorten it slightly and make it possible to fit in with your appliance.

If an injury does occur, your first call should be to your general or pediatric dentist who is the expert in assessing damage to and repairing the teeth.  They may take an x-ray to ensure that no teeth or bones have been broken.  If a tooth has broken or knocked out, they will recommend the proper course of action.  In many cases, the orthodontist may be involved in the recovery as well.  Sometimes if a tooth has loosened due to injury, the braces can be used to stabilize the tooth, and your dentist can advise you if they'd like you to see us to assist with this stabilization.  In addition, once the risks to the teeth, lips, and bones have been addressed with your dentist, you should also evaluate to see if any braces or other appliances are broken or loose.  If so, as with any other broken appliances, you should give our office a call, and we can advise you on whether you need to come in right away or if the breakage is minor enough and can wait until your next visit for an easy repair.

As I mentioned, another concern that often arises during sports seasons is finding time to wear things like elastics and retainers.  If a mouthguard is required for your sport, then this takes precedence over the use of any special appliances!  We always give permission to leave rubber bands and retainers out while you're engaged in playing your sport.  (If you play a non-contact sport (like track and field) and feel comfortable wearing your rubber bands or retainers, it's ok to go ahead and keep them in, but we do not require it.)  Often, especially for serious athletes, there can be many hours spent each day on practices, games, and meets.  It's can be challenging to find enough time to wear your appliances, but rest assured that it can be done!  We suggest keeping extra bags of rubber bands around at all times and putting a fresh pair in every time you have an opportunity.  At a tournament all weekend?  Make sure the rubber bands are in between games.  Even if you only have half an hour, it's important to put them back in and let them keep working.  By making the effort, you can still make progress during your sports season, or at least avoid taking a step backwards!

Keep smiling, friends!

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