Dental Injuries associated with Skateboarding and other action sports. Skateboarding is a popular action sport and recreational activity among children and teenagers. Although it is a fun and challenging activity, skateboarding carries with it a serious risk for injury. Professionals, by wearing pads and full armor, try to balance the risk by doing them in places like a controlled course, a controlled setting, where there are run off areas that make it easier to slow down. The problem we see is as kids and teens get more skilled on skateboards, they'll begin taking higher risks and often don't put on the safety elements, like a helmet, elbow pads and mouth guards which can end up in causing injuries and fractures. Many injuries happen when a child loses balance, falls off the skateboard and lands on an outstretched arm. Fractures and dislocations are among the most common injuries.

Skateboarding injuries often involve

• Injuries to the arms, legs, neck, and trunk range from cuts and bruises to sprains, strains, and broken bones.
• Wrist fractures are quite common.
• Facial injuries, such as a broken jawbone or nose, are also common.
• Severe injuries include concussion and other head injuries
• Tooth fractures, avulsion, and intrusion.

Common tooth injuries associated with action sports like skateboarding

1. Cracked or fractured Tooth – A fractured or cracked tooth, which has wildly varying levels of severity, happens most often during sports when the player sustains an abrupt blow to the face. It is estimated that players who don't wear mouth guards are 60 times more likely to damage their teeth this way.
2. Fractured Roots – Dental injury in sports isn't always to the crown of the tooth, It is possible that an impact at the wrong angle can cause a fractured root. The sooner a patient with a root fracture receives root canal therapy to prevent infection in the pulp, it is more likely to save tooth loss due to necrosis.
3. Tooth Intrusion – In some cases, It's possible for a tooth to be driven back into the jawbone. This type of trauma is called intrusion, and it happens in dental injuries involving permanent teeth. It's more common in children's primary teeth because a child's alveolar bone, that holds the tooth sockets, are not hardened to the strength of an adult's
4. Tooth avulsion – Another possible case is that tooth may come out of the socket. In such cases, the tooth should be saved and taken to the dentist. The dentist will determine if it is possible to replace the avulsed tooth.

Treatment for tooth fracture due to trauma from skateboard fall includes:

• Careful examination of the tooth/teeth and adjacent areas such as the lips, cheek, gums, tongue and adjacent teeth.
• Radiographs can help in diagnosing the case correctly.
• Restoring the fractured tooth/teeth if there is no involvement of the pulp tissue
• Root canal treatment if the involvement of the pulp tissue is evident.
• Extraction of the tooth/teeth if the prognosis is poor.

Do's and Don'ts when you have a broken tooth or dental injury in children

1. Do comfort the child.
2. Collect all pieces of the tooth.
3. Rinse the mouth with warm water.
4. Don't touch the root of the tooth. locate the dislodged tooth and gently pick it up and avoid touching the root of the tooth.
5. Place the tooth in a balanced tooth solution (like Save-A-Tooth), if you have it. else, place the tooth in a saline solution or a container of milk or your child's saliva or between the lower lip and gum. Don't store it in tap water.
6. Control the bleeding. tooth loss due to injury involves a great deal of bleeding in the mouth. to control the bleeding, have your child hold a piece of gauze over the socket and apply pressure.
7. For older children and teens, try placing the tooth back in the socket without touching the root. Have them bite down on gauze to help keep it in place.
8. Don't scrub the tooth. If the dislodged tooth fell on the ground, your instinct might be to clean it thoroughly. However, scrubbing a tooth– and particularly removing pieces of attached tissue– can reduce its chances of reattaching
9. Don't wrap the tooth up. It might be tempting to wrap the tooth up in a paper towel causing it to dry out. Gently try to replace the tooth in your kids' socket, but don't force it. instead, place the tooth in a bowl of milk or salt water.
10. Take your child to a dentist immediately, bring the dislodged tooth in a container of milk or salt water

How a dentist fixes a broken tooth due to dental injury

A case of anterior tooth fracture (upper left central incisor), due to skateboard fall, was reported to our clinic. The 8-year-old patient had pain in the anterior tooth as a result of the accident. On clinical examination, along with the help of intraoral radiograph, the case was diagnosed as a fracture involving enamel and dentin and not extending into the pulp tissue. Since the patient complained of pain on the first visit, a week's time was given to observe if the pain would subside. The patient was informed that if pain still persisted after a week, a root canal would be necessary. On the next visit, which was a week later the patient was completely pain-free. Therefore, we went ahead with the filling (composite material). Shade selection was done to match the shade of the natural teeth, which was supportive in restoring the smile. After the procedure, the patient was advised to prevent biting directly on the restored teeth.

 

Precautions to avoid dental injuries while involving in action sports

There are many things parents and children can do to avoid skateboarding or action sport injuries, such as carefully selecting safe places to ride and using essential protective equipment that includes

• A properly fitting helmet and face guard to protect the head and facial structures.
• Wrist guards that help support the wrist and reduce the chances of breaking a bone if you fall.
• Knee and elbow pads which can reduce the severity of cuts and scrapes, and prevent gravel burns.
• Closed-toe shoes that have slip-resistant soles, rather than sandals.
• Goggles or glasses which help to keep debris out of the eyes.
• Mouth guards which can protect the teeth from fracture.

Always have your dentists' number handy, so in case of an injury you can immediately contact your dentist and inform your visit