What Are Your Child's Options For Tooth Straightening If They Play Contact Sports?
Posted on: 26 June 2019
Many parents choose to have their child's teeth straightened before they become adults. This provides your child with a perfect smile from the time they leave home, helping to guarantee their success in the future. However, it can be difficult to fit in tooth straightening when your child is into the rougher contact sports, like hockey, football, wrestling, and so on. If your child plays hard and you want them to have straight teeth, this is what you need to know about their options.
The Problem With Traditional Braces
Traditional braces are one of the best ways to straighten teeth, but they're not for everyone. Unfortunately, that often includes children who play contact sports.
The issue here is that the metal brackets and wires that connect the brackets together can be damaged if someone takes a hit to the face. While parents would prefer that this was never the case, of course, it can happen in sports and practice nonetheless. When this happens, the damage can range from the wires being disconnected to brackets being completely knocked off of the teeth.
Mouthguards Aren't a Full Solution
Mouthguards are a great piece of equipment that can help to protect a child's mouth from traumatic blows while playing sports. However, that's exactly what they're supposed to do: protect the mouth, not equipment on the mouth.
When someone takes a hit to the face and they're wearing a mouthguard, the mouthguard helps to absorb and dissipate the energy before it can reach the teeth. This usually reduces the impact enough to prevent teeth from being seriously damaged or knocked out. However, mouthguards often don't fit right over braces, and if they're overly tight, the energy will be transferred to the braces and could potentially cause them to break severely.
The Alternative
Thankfully, these days you have a lot more to choose from than traditional braces. Your child's teeth can see a straighter future if you choose invisible braces.
Invisalign braces are made of thin plastic and are designed to be taken off and put on at will. For most people, this means that they can eat and brush their teeth without having to work around braces that are permanently mounted. For your child, however, it would mean that they could take off the braces entirely before practice and during matches. While not wearing the braces, they can wear a standard mouthguard to protect their teeth, and put the braces back on when they're done.
This option is the one for your child. Get the straightened smile you're looking for without having to pull your child from contact sports.
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