MOUTH GUARDS

Mouth Guards

PROTECT YOUR SMILE!!!!

FOR Sportsmen AND Women – YES EVEN THE KIDS!

The importance of playing with a custom made mouthguard

Every year during the winter sport season, we see injuries to teeth and peri-oral tissues. Most of these cases are in children not wearing mouthguards or wearing generic/ill-fitting mouthguards. Most to all of these injuries could so easily have been avoided by simply wearing a properly fitting, custom made mouthguard.

WARNING: A custom fitted mouth guard is not the same as the one you can find in the shops and here is why…

Store bought mouth guards provide little if any protection because they are generic and your mouth is unique. They fit loosely and often get displaced on impact. Players also may find them too big and uncomfortable often hurting them, causing them to remove it during the duration of the game or practice.
Store-bought mouthguards have on rare occasions also been displaced and lodged in the players airway when rendered unconscious.

A custom made mouthguard have been shown to have to have the following 5 protective benefits:

Protects against concussion
Protects against jaw joint injuries
Protects teeth against impact
Protects against soft tissue injury
Protects against neck and jaw injury

Except for these benefits, custom made mouthguards are also much more comfortable than generic mouthguards, causing less discomfort, allowing players to focus on the game.

Permanent teeth aren’t cheap to repair or replace, and an injury may result in hours spent in the dental chair. Avoid injuries during contact sports such as rugby, hockey, wrestling, etc.

Wear a custom made mouthguard and protect your smile.

Video gallery

Store bought/boil and bite mouthgaurds provide little to no protection, because they are generic and your mouth is unique. Custom made mouthgaurds are made according to exact measurements of your mouth. Except for being much more comfortable, they provide maximum protection not only for your teeth, but also have many other protective advantages according to research. Watch this short 20second video, with Huttenpark's 1st Rugby team and find out how a custom made mouthgaurd protects MUCH MORE than just your smile!!! #huttenparkrugby #wearcustommademouthgaurds #protectyoursmile
Posted by Dr Larika Robb on Monday, May 9, 2016

Watch our 67second video, handing out 67 toothbrushes, in 67 minutes throughout town to celebrate Mandeladay! Follow us on our journey through town! #drlarikarobb #visitthedentist #goodcleanfun #mandeladay #madibaday #67minutes #67toothbrushes #brushbash #2016 #67secondvideo #thatsawrap
Posted by Dr Larika Robb on Tuesday, July 19, 2016

PULPOTOMY

A pulpotomy is the removal of a portion of the pulp, including the diseased aspect, with the intent of maintaining the vitality of the remaining pulpal tissue by means of a therapeutic dressing. A healthy tooth has a space inside it called the “pulp space” which is filled with soft tissues – nerves, blood vessels, and pink connective tissue. If a tooth gets a large cavity, the bacteria in the decay can damage the pulp, which is often what causes toothache. Primary (Baby) teeth in children have relatively large pulp/nerve spaces and a cavity does not have to get very large before it reaches the nerve. When the soft tissue in the pulp chamber is infected (has bacteria in it) or affected (is inflamed), it must be removed by the dentist under local anaesthetic.

If the soft tissue in the canals is still healthy enough, a special medicated filling can be put into the chamber in an attempt to keep the remaining pulp (in the canals) alive. The process of removing the pulp from the chamber is the actual “pulpotomy”.

Afterwards the tooth is restored with a regular filling and can still act as a functional placeholder until the permanent successor erupts.

FISSURE SEALANTS

Fissure Sealants

Talk to us about using sealants in your school age child! Sealants can protect your children’s back teeth, so that they may never need to have a filling! They are a protective plastic coating, which are applied to the chewing surfaces of teeth at risk of decay.

The chewing surfaces of back teeth have small grooves or fissures which often extend right down into the tooth itself. However well the teeth are brushed, these fissures are very difficult to clean thoroughly. Bacteria and food particles stick to them and eventually cause decay. Fissure sealants completely seal off these grooves, preventing any food particles or bacteria from getting in. They do not affect the normal chewing function of teeth.

Before

After

Sealants can be applied to the 1st and 2nd permanent molars to help protect the grooves and pits of these teeth that can be hard to clean and are prone to developing cavities, and appropriate premolars as soon as possible after they erupt (usually after 6 years of age).

THE PROCEDURE

First the fissure is checked for decay. Then the process simply involves cleaning the tooth surface, preparing it with a special solution, and then applying the coating. No injections or drilling are needed, and the entire process is pain free.

When should it be done?

The first permanent back molars are usually sealed between 6 and 7 years of age. If required, the rest of the molars are usually sealed as soon as they appear which can be any time between 11 and 14 years.

Do the teeth need special care afterwards?

No special care is needed, but the back teeth still need to be brushed regularly with a good toothbrush, preferably using fluoride toothpaste. It’s also important to keep going to the dentist for regular check-ups and cleanings.

Before

After

FILLINGS ON PRIMARY / MILK TEETH

Extraction of primary / milk teeth

Extracting primary/milk teeth for a child is not very difficult, but should only be considered as a last resort. Many parents feel that their kid’s teeth should be taken out instead of being saved, but primary teeth have an important role to play, and removing them prematurely can cause a lot of problems.

Primary teeth encourage the normal development of jaw bones and muscles, and ensure that there is space for the permanent teeth to grow into. They also help guide those teeth into position. The healthier your child’s baby teeth are, the stronger their permanent teeth will be!

Fortunately, when necessary, a child tooth extraction is usually a simple procedure. Kids require much less local anaesthetic than adults and usually have very little to no discomfort during their procedures. They often are more excited about the “Tooth Fairy/Tandmuis” coming and don’t worry about possible dental pain. Let us make your life as “Tooth Fairy / Tandmuis” more magical … Have a look at our Tooth Fairy Helper Kits

Fillings on primary / milk teeth

Saving a milk tooth is always preferred to extracting it, since these teeth act s placeholders for their permanent successors. Fillings on primary teeth can be done using white or silver fillings. If the decay progress all the way to the pulp/nerve of the tooth, a filling may be placed after first performing a pulpotomy on the tooth involved.

CHECK-UPS AND CLEANINGS

Dental check-up’s

It is generally recommended that kids see a dentist for the first time by their first birthday, and thereafter for twice-yearly dental check-ups. This way they get introduced to proper dental care habits from a very young age and tend not to be as fearful as when they are introduced at a later stage. It also ensures that cavities are picked up at an early stage, often needing minimal intervention, and in many cases might not even need injections to work on if still contained in the nerve-free enamel. This combined with proper dental hygiene care at home and diet, are the keys to ensuring pearly whites throughout childhood.

Dental cleanings

Except for being a good oral hygiene practice, regular 6 monthly dental cleanings, is a good way of introducing a child to the sound and feel of the dentist working inside their mouths in a fun way, by ‘tickling their teeth clean’, leaving them with a positive experience.