Healthy mouth, healthy competition

Dr Saul Konviser is a Sports Dentistry specialist who has worked with some of the UK’s leading elite sportspeople to help them to understand how maintaining good oral hygiene is essential to building a successful career at the highest possible level.

And it’s not just elite sportsmen and women who need to understand how to manage their oral health, which is why so many people who want to know more about achieving and maintaining optimum fitness in order to excel in their chosen sport now turn to Saul for advice and treatment.

Without proper care your mouth becomes the perfect breeding ground for bacteria, accelerating the risks of things like oral infections, tooth decay and gum disease.

Studies now show that left untreated, the bacteria that develops in the mouth can travel to other parts of the body, compromising major organs such as the lungs, heart and brain and, in the case of full-blown infections, stimulate symptoms and an immune response that can compromise physical health, your metabolism and stamina.

Saul works with you to help you to understand the relationship between oral hygiene and physical wellbeing, giving you the advice and information you need to be able to mitigate the impact of your diet and cleaning regimen on your dental health.

The demands that competitive sport places on the body mean your diet is highly likely to contain food and drink that’s higher in sugar and acid content than is necessarily good for you.

Most people now understand that while these food fuel the body to be able to meet the physical challenges of an active life, they’re usually not so kind on your teeth, increasing the likelihood of tooth decay as well as damage through acid erosion.

This often results in weakened teeth that fracture easily, causing severe pain and increasing the risk for additional problems such as infection.

So, whether you’re a professional sportsperson operating at an elite level, or a serious amateur striving to achieve peak performance, your diet has a lot to say about how your oral health affects your capacity to compete to your true potential.

With the benefit of Saul’s expert advice and help, you’ll be able to make the best possible choices to maintain physical fitness and look after your teeth and gums so that your oral health doesn’t end up on the losing side.

Even with the best level of protection, sporting accidents can happen and it’s important that when they do you know what to do in order to give yourself the best possible chance of making a full recovery.

Although a broken tooth is the most common result of sports injuries relating to dental trauma, some injuries can go undetected, and some symptoms may not manifest for weeks, months or even years.

That’s why we use a variety of diagnostic tests to assess the true extent of the damage and then monitor the injury regularly after treatment.

Often time is of the essence in ensuring injuries can be treated successfully. In the event of a tooth being knocked out, it should be rinsed under cold water, touching the white surface or crown only (never the yellow surface or root) and kept in milk or saliva until you’re able to visit the practice.

All physical sport carries the risk of dental trauma, and that risk increases with contact sports like boxing, hockey and rugby.

For those most at risk the first line of defence in protecting the mouth is a properly fitted mouthguard that helps to protect the teeth, gums and supporting bone against sports-related trauma.

A mouthguard can also help to protect against the damage that can be caused from repetitive clenching or grinding during exercise.

Our mouthguards are individually designed so they’re appropriate to the sport you play. Sports-related dental trauma such as tooth loss or a bone fracture not only risks keeping you out of action for a prolonged period, it’s also usually costly to resolve.

Using a mouthguard whilst training can also help to relieve the pressure placed on the jaw joint through clenching and grinding and protect the teeth from fracturing. There is even research to suggest that a custom-made mouthguard can help improve performance.

We also work closely with a specialist dental imaging centre and oral surgeons to offer specialist protective sports facemasks that provide greater protection in the event of a trauma to facilitate a quicker return to the field of play.

If you’re involved in running a professional or amateur sports club and would like to learn more about how sports dentistry can help your players or members, please get in touch with Saul for details of his sports dentistry education lectures and webinars on how dental health can impact sporting performance.