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For many people, summer means relaxation, adventure, and fun, but it’s important to keep your smile safe while enjoying the heat and the sunshine. The harmful oral bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease are just as active in the summer as they are in any other season, and allowing them to gain a foothold in your mouth can lead to severe consequences for your oral health. Here are a few favorite summer activities, how they can lead to dental damage, and how to keep your teeth safe and healthy.
Don’t Let Summer Sports Cut Your Dental Health Short
Summer athletics are a time-honored favorite in America. While sports like football, basketball, baseball, and soccer are all great ways to have fun, get exercise, and learn teamwork, they can also lead to dental injuries if you aren’t careful. All it takes is for a ball or an elbow to land in the wrong place for a person to suffer a chipped, cracked, broken, or dislodged tooth that requires emergency dental treatment.
To protect your child’s or your own smile from sports-related dental injuries, invest in a customized mouthguard from your dentist. This will provide superior protection to store-bought brands, ensuring that a smile will be safe and beautiful on and off the field.
Follow the Rules: Don’t Run Around the Pool
Summer is easily the best season for swimming, but while this activity is certainly a great way to cool off, have fun, get exercise, and promote water safety, it can involve the risk of dental injuries. The decks around pools tend to get slippery, which makes it a little too easy to fall and hurt your teeth. Take care to ensure that you and your family know not to run around pools.
If you or a family member is a dedicated swimmer, spending more than six hours a week in chlorinated water can lead to swimmer’s calculus. This condition results in yellow discoloration that does not respond to conventional oral hygiene methods, but it can be cleared up with a professional cleaning from your dentist.
Stick to Water
While sweet treats like soda, ice cream, snow cones, and popsicles are a summer staple, they can be high in sugars and acids that can lead to tooth decay. While practicing excellent oral hygiene every morning and night is a great way to control this problem, it’s also important to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated while also washing food debris, sugary residue, and harmful bacteria away from your teeth.
Nothing ruins summer fun like a dental emergency. Keeping these tips in mind can help you avoid oral health problems and enjoy a fun and relaxing season.
About the Author
Dr. Sheila Gordon-Holt earned her dental degree at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry and completed her Advanced Education in General Dentistry residency at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Her office in Charlotte, NC, offers general, restorative, cosmetic, and emergency dentistry. For more summer dental safety tips, contact her office online or dial (704) 542-2325.