About Orthodontics
Can You Play Sports with Braces On?
You may be playing organized sports or just messing around with your friends in your backyard. Braces won’t get in the way, but there are a few things to know about.
Braces connect up your teeth with the wires and this helps to protect your teeth. If you get hit in the mouth, the pressure of any blow will be spread out from one or two teeth, to more teeth and this reduces the damage.
Your lips may be cut up from the braces, but lips and cheeks heal a lot better than teeth.
Wear a Mouth Guard for Protection
A severe blow to your mouth can fracture a tooth or knock one out. This is less likely to happen with your braces. But for organized sports, you still need a mouth guard with your braces. You can’t wear the normal fitted mouth guard because it would work like a retainer to hold your teeth – stopping them from moving the way we want them to.
Shock Doc Mouth Guard
You need to wear a mouth guard that’s designed for braces. It’s looser fitting around your teeth, letting them move with the braces. We’re happy to provide you with a Shock Doc mouth guard for braces at our cost – just ask.
One more thing about the mouth guard and braces. Don’t chew on the mouth guard. That breaks braces! If you’re playing professional hockey, you are allowed to chew your mouth guard – it’s in your contract. For everyone else, nope. You don’t want to have the hassle of broken braces.