Another beautiful Michigan summer is upon us. It is a time when our thoughts turn to sun, sand, and vacations! It is also a time of year when our children are playing outdoors a lot too. From our perspective at Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontic Specialists of Michigan, we want to help parents take precautions with child safety during this time of increased activity.
On occasion, our dental specialists see patients that spend a lot of time swimming. Spending over six hours a week in a swimming pool may put your child’s teeth at risk for developing dark brown stains on their teeth. Pool water contains chemical additives that directly disturb our pearly whites. These hard, brown deposits are known as swimmers’ calculus. This is not something that patients can typically remove themselves and extra visits to our hygiene team may be needed to control this. This may also need to be considered during swim season for our school athletes. One the other hand, pool water is typically pH balanced to near the levels of drinking water so there is no risk of enamel erosion from swimming.
Older kids may be experimenting or interested in scuba diving, perhaps while on vacation. It is a good idea to have your child’s teeth checked before partaking in this activity to make sure their teeth are in good shape. If a diver has a cavity, temporary filling, or gum disease, this could lead to “tooth squeeze.” Tooth squeeze is a pain in the center of the tooth. Divers also report jaw joint pain and gum tissue problems related to the pressure of the water when you dive down.
Summer sports such as soccer, baseball, and even general outside play can lead to dental injury. These are all activities where mouth guards are not necessarily required. However, it is an interesting statistic that soccer players have more mouth injuries than football players. This may be because they seldom wear mouth guards. We would suggest that you get your children a mouth guard when participating in these sports. You can actually buy them off the shelf. However, if you want one that really fits your child, your dentist can create a custom-made mouth protector as long as they are not currently undergoing or planning to soon undergo orthodontic treatment. Custom mouthguards are not very expensive and the evidence shows that they offer the best protection, fit, and comfort and are therefore more likely to be worn.
If injury does occur and a tooth gets knocked out or injured, contact your pediatric dentist immediately. If the tooth is a baby tooth, the tooth will probably not be saved, but you should contact your dentist any way to be sure that there are no other soft tissue, jaw, or tooth injuries. If the injury is to a permanent tooth and your child has no other head injuries involved, contact your dentist immediately. It is best to put the tooth back into the socket but this may not be possible for a variety of reasons. If you cannot replace the tooth in the mouth, do not aggressively handle the tooth and, if possible, soak it in milk or Hank’s Balance Salt Solution (school nurses usually have this). The faster you get to the dentist, the more likely you are to save the tooth. This is a true dental emergency.
If you have any further questions about you or your child’s smile during summertime, please feel free to contact us.
About Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontic Specialists of Michigan, the offices of Drs. Delaney, Plunkett, Ralstrom, Makowski, Thanasas, Ker, and Associates
Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontic Specialists of Michigan have specialized in pediatric dentistry and orthodontics since 1968. Our family-friendly office gives patients and families a more comfortable and consistent experience with dentistry from the very beginning. The pediatric dentists treat children from newborn to 18 years of age while our orthodontists provide care for both children and adults, including being an Invisalign preferred provider. The ability to treat all special needs patients reaches beyond our facility, which has treatment rooms available for children who require additional privacy. Valued hospital affiliations allow dental services to be performed at DMC Children’s Hospital and St. John’s Hospital Macomb when needed. Our specialists are also on staff at Henry Ford and Beaumont hospitals.
