...football outside with his dad, and was accidentally elbowed and needed an emergency dental or ER visit? At our office we shudder when we see an emergency put into the schedule with an injured child. We had always spoken to parents and school classes about being careful when playing sports and wearing proper protection, but about five years ago we decided to aggressively do something about it.

It has been estimated by the National Youth Sports Foundation that over five million teeth are lost annually in sports-related accidents, with over 300,000 orofacial injuries occurring yearly. (1) According to the American Dental Association and the National Athletic Trainers Association's newsletter, NATA News, athletes who do not wear mouth protection face seven times greater chance of suffering an orofacial injury than those who use such protection. (2) Baseball and softball are the most popular organized sports with an estimated involvement of 25 percent of U.S. children. Protective headgear was used regularly during organized games by about...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.




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