Protect Your Smile While Playing These Winter Sports

There are many winter sports and activities that pose a threat to your smile, whether you like it or not. This is why it’s important to protect your teeth and gums while you participate in something that could harm or damage your smile. Our dentist, Dr. Gary Wegmann, and our dental team encourage you to wear a mouthguard while you participate in the following things:

–Basketball: Basketball is a high-contact sport that involves boxing out and defending. These two things pose a high threat to your smile, especially because there is a chance an elbow, shoulder, knee—or even the ball—could hit your mouth with such force that it injures or knocks out a tooth. This is why it’s best to wear a mouthguard while you’re playing basketball.

–Wrestling: Wrestling is another high-contact sport that can cause significant injury to your mouth. With all of the pushing, flipping, and rolling, there is a chance a body part or the wrestling mat could input much force on your mouth and injure your teeth, gums, lips, and tongue. So, please wear a mouthguard while you’re wrestling.

–Hockey: One of the best parts of hockey is slamming into the opponent when you get the chance, right? Well, this means your smile is in danger. When you hit into another player, there is the possibility of a shoulder or head banging into your mouth and hurting your smile. So, while you’re playing hockey, please wear a mouthguard.

–Sledding: Even though sledding is not a high-contact sport or activity, there is still a chance your smile could get injured. You could crash and fall when you’re riding down the hill or you could even crash into another sledder. When this happens, there is a chance a head, foot, shoulder, or other body part, could injure your mouth. This is why it’s important to wear a mouthguard while you sled.

–Snowboarding/Skiing: Just like sledding, snowboarding and skiing aren’t high-contact sports that could pose serious threats to your smile. However, there is a chance you could crash, whether it’s on your own, into another person, or into a tree, and your smile could be severely damaged. So, it’s best to wear a mouthguard while you soar down the mountain.

If you protect your smile with a mouthguard in Chicago, Illinois, you’ll maintain the strong and successful smile you deserve and you won’t need to worry about knocking a tooth out of place or injuring or fracturing your chompers.

Please visit your nearest sporting goods store or talk to our dentist for a mouth guard in Chicago, Illinois. For more information about the appliance that can save your smile, please call The Chicago Family Dental Center today at 312.551.0500. We are happy to help you!