Winning Smiles: Enhancing Athletic Performance through Advanced Sport Dentistry
By: Dr. Weam Banjar; DDS., MS in Clinical Research
Athletes health is a national priority because it affects their performance and the country’s image during participation in Olympics and World Cups. Sport medicine contributes to healthier athletes and better performance and had evolved into a multidisciplinary field. Oral health for athletes focuses on prevention and management of athletics-related injuries and oral diseases. Therefore, sport dentistry is a branch of dentistry dealing with prevention and treatment of pathogenesis and injuries or the oral cavity and stomatognathic system related to sport practice.
Sport dentistry had been recognized as a key element of athletic health. Maintaining good oral health helps to improve performance and prevent injuries. Furthermore, periodical check-up necessary to avoid any potential conditions that may negatively affect training, performance and participation in international competition. Athletes hold a social responsibility toward the youth because they set an example for maintain good oral and dental health. Sport dentistry not only ensure that athletes receive optimal care but also establish the foundation for customized preventive oral health programs that address athletes’ needs and answer their concerns.
Training programs in sport dentistry should adapt a holistic approach in order to provide comprehensive care for athletes. Specialized professionals in sport dentistry are not limited to operate on professional athletes but also may work in gyms and schools to provide preventive and first aid care for orofacial injuries related to sport practice and to collaborate with dental public health professionals to design customized oral health promotion programs for athletics.
