Saturday morning soccer. Evening practice at the rec center. A weekend travel tournament two hours away. For Bensalem families with active kids, sports are a way of life. But here’s a question we hear from parents all the time in our office: does my child really need a mouthguard?
The short answer is yes. But let us explain why, because the “why” matters more than just telling you to buy one.
What Happens Without a Mouthguard
Kids fall. They run into each other. They take elbows to the face. It’s not because they’re clumsy. It’s because sports are unpredictable. When a child takes a hit to the mouth without protection, here’s what can happen:
- A tooth gets chipped or fractured.
- A tooth gets knocked completely out.
- A lip gets split open against the teeth.
- The jaw gets jarred in a way that leads to headaches or TMJ issues later.
And fixing those problems costs time and money. A single knocked-out tooth can mean an emergency visit, follow-up appointments, and thousands of dollars. A root canal or a dental implant down the road? Even more.
A mouthguard costs a fraction of that. And it takes about two minutes to put in.
The Problem With Store-Bought Mouthguards
We get it. You walk into a big box store, and there’s a shelf full of mouthguards for ten or fifteen dollars. You boil one in water, have your child bite down on it, and call it done. Those are better than nothing. We’ll give them that.
But here’s what they don’t do well: fit. A boil-and-bite mouthguard is bulky. It can make breathing harder. It can slip around during play. And when it doesn’t fit right, kids don’t want to wear it. So it ends up in the bottom of a gym bag.
A custom mouthguard from our office is made from digital scans of your child’s actual teeth. It fits snug. It’s thinner, so talking and breathing are easier. It stays put during a tackle or a header. And because it’s comfortable, kids actually wear it.
Which Sports Need a Mouthguard
Football and hockey are obvious. Most leagues require them.
But the list of sports where dental injuries happen is much longer than people realize:
- Basketball.
- Soccer.
- Baseball and softball.
- Gymnastics.
- Skateboarding and biking.
- Even cheerleading.
Any sport where your child could fall, collide with another player, or get hit by a piece of equipment counts. The American Dental Association recommends mouthguards for thirty-nine sports. That’s not us being cautious. That’s based on real injury data.
What We Recommend for Bensalem Families
At Perfect Smiles, we’ve been seeing young patients from Bensalem, Trevose, and nearby towns since 1990. We know how active local kids are. We also know that a custom mouthguard is one of the simplest things we can do to protect a smile for the long haul.
The process is easy. We take digital scans of your child’s teeth, no goopy impressions unless you want them. The mouthguard is fabricated to fit perfectly. When it arrives, your child tries it on, we make any small adjustments, and they’re ready for the field.
Most custom mouthguards last several seasons unless your child’s mouth changes a lot from growth or losing baby teeth.
Protect Your Child’s Smile
Mouthguards protect more than teeth. They also protect against concussions. Studies show that a properly fitted mouthguard can help absorb shock and reduce the force transferred to the jaw and skull.
So when we say your child needs a mouthguard for sports, we’re not trying to sell you something. We’re trying to save you from a phone call we both hate: the one that starts with “we’re on our way to the emergency room.”
If your child plays sports, let us get them fitted with something that actually works.