Sports Dentistry

Principles and Practice

Peter D. Fine, Chris Louca, Albert Leung, Peter D. Fine, Chris Louca, Albert Leung

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781119332558
• eBook ISBN: 9781119332589
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Dentistry

Sports Dentistry: Principles and Practice is a comprehensive resource that addresses all aspects of this burgeoning field of dentistry.

• Provides a comprehensive manual that covers the fundamental principles and practice of sports dentistry
• Addresses all aspects of sports dentistry, including treatment of injuries, preventative measures, oral health and marketing and practice management
• Offers information on providing dental facilities at sporting arenas
• Presents suggestions for treating young children and the specific issues they present
• Includes a companion website with illustrative case studies

1
Introduction

Peter D. Fine, Chris Louca, and Albert Leung

This book is designed for both dental and medical professionals who either look after or who would like to be more involved in the care of both elite and recreational athletes. The role of specialist sports medicine practitioners has been well established for many years. The primary role of the sports medicine physician in competitive sport is the comprehensive health management of the elite athlete to facilitate optimal performance – the diagnosis and treatment of injuries and illnesses associated with exercise to improve athlete performance. Sports dentistry is a relatively new concept that is gaining momentum as the importance of good oral health and athletic performance become inextricably linked. For dental colleagues, this book will provide invaluable information about the recommended, evidence‐based manner to provide for the dental needs of all athletes. For medical colleagues, the book will give you an insight into dental issues commonly seen with athletes and some guidance on how to deal with certain dental/orofacial emergency situations if a dentist is not immediately present. Throughout the book we shall refer to sportsmen and women of all sports as athletes, and we shall refer to professional sportsmen and women as elite athletes. This book is intended to be used as a manual by the sports medicine fraternity in order to ensure that athletes suffering from dental/orofacial trauma or tooth surface loss as result of dietary considerations and those who are in need of preventative measures, can all be treated in an appropriate, speedy, and efficient manner. We are grateful for contributions to this book from specialists in dentistry from all over the world. The book is designed to support dental/medical colleagues with the ever‐increasing needs of athletes and the increasing role that dentistry/oral health has to play in athletic performance.

In this introduction, we look at the role that sports dentistry plays within sports medicine, the prevalence and incidence of dental trauma in the sporting arena, and outline the chapters that follow. With the exception of teeth that have been avulsed as a result of trauma, we shall consider dental trauma of teeth that are still in the oral cavity, and as such can be considered as cases of head injury. The relevance of head injuries will be considered in the relevant chapter from the point of view of their significance, but will not be dealt with in an exhaustive way as this is beyond the scope of this book. For more information the reader should refer to texts on concussion in sport or neurological information on the subject.

Sports and exercise medicine has been growing and gaining recognition around the world. In Britain it achieved official status in 2005, when the then Chief Medical Officer for England, Sir Liam Donaldson, promised to develop the specialty as a commitment to the London 2012 Olympic Games. Figures from the London 2012 Olympiad show that 45% of athletes seen in the poly‐clinic within the Olympic village or at any of the satellite sporting venues, were treated for musculo‐skeletal injuries, whilst 30% were seen regarding dental issues. This high proportion of dental patients seen during the 2012 games indicates the significance of sports dentistry in the current age. Figures collected at recent Olympiads show a steady increase in the number of dental cases seen during the competition period: Atlanta (1996) 906; Sydney (2000) 1200; Athens (2004) 1400; Beijing (2008) 1520; and London (2012) 1800. These figures do need to be seen in context as they represent all dental patients seen during the Olympic Games, which will include a small proportion of trainers, managers, coaches, and ancillary staff. The vast majority are athletes, many of whom use the four‐year cycle of the Olympic Games to get their teeth, eyes and hearing checked.

Therefore sports dentistry is not just about treating trauma to the teeth and jaws; the treatment and prevention of oral/facial athletic injuries and related oral diseases and manifestations is a significant part. Sports dentistry has evolved from a recognition that dental trauma is prevalent, particularly in contact sports, at all levels of sport, for all ages, and for both genders.

The Academy of Sports Dentistry was set up in San Antonio, Texas in 1983 as a forum for dentists, physicians, athletic trainers, coaches, dental technicians, and educators interested in exchanging ideas related to sports dentistry and the dental needs of athletes at risk of sporting injuries. Courses, seminars and symposia on sports dentistry are far more common today than in the 1980s. The role of the sports dentist is evolving continuously as new data become available. There is strong anecdotal evidence to suggest that poor oral health can have an impact on athletic performance and therefore the sports dentist has a more educational and preventative role to play than they might have done a few years ago. In Chapter 9 we will look into the implications of athletic performance and oral health. As dental professionals, we now recognise oral signs and symptoms, which can be indicators of systemic disease; recognising potential systemic problems from intra‐oral signs is important for all professionals, but when dealing with elite athletes this has a particular poignancy as we are generally dealing with young, generally fit and healthy adults, the detection of eating disorders, which we will cover in Chapter 6, being one example.

For some time the specialty of sports medicine has been well recognised in medical circles and in the sporting world. Professional and amateur sport has been aware of the impact that good medical practice, well‐trained medical specialists, and appropriate medical facilities can have on the enactment, well‐being, and performance of athletes. The input from sports medicine experts, physiotherapists, nutritionists, and sports psychologists in the care of athletes has been well documented for many years. No self‐respecting sports club would be without their professional or voluntary medical support, including the supportive and knowledgeable parents who give their time and expertise every weekend to support their sons and daughters. All major sporting events, like the Olympic Games, football world cups, rugby world cups, motor sports, and equestrian events, are well supported by medical professionals, often with a special interest in each individual sport. There is also a long history of medical professionals representing their country at various sports, including Sir Roger Bannister (athletics), Simon Hoogewerf (athletics), and JPR Williams (rugby).

In the world of modern professional sport, the medical team works closely with conditioning coaches, technical coaches, nutritionists, and psychologists to achieve the best results for the individual athlete and/or team. A lot of amateur sport is similarly well supported, sometimes by enthusiastic medical practitioners volunteering their time and knowledge, but also by well‐trained professionals. The first editor’s memory of taking a group of 17‐year‐old rugby players to tour South Africa in the 1990s included persuading the other coaches that we needed a professional physiotherapist with the team to make sure any youngster who really was not fit to take the field would not do so. It ended up that the professional physiotherapist was the busiest person on the trip and she quickly became a vital member of the support team, keeping players fit and more importantly advising the coaches on which players were not fit to play. Most athletes, whether keen amateurs or professionals, will want to continue playing their sport after an injury, therefore the involvement of knowledgeable professionals to support those athletes is paramount. None more so than in the situation of concussion following a trauma to the head. Current protocols about whether players who have suffered a head injury should be allowed to return to the field of play make the presence of a suitably trained person at every sporting event essenti...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Dealing with Dental Trauma: The Adult Athlete
• 3 Dealing with Sporting Dental Trauma in Paediatric Patients
• 4 Restoration of Teeth Damaged by Trauma
• 5 Dealing with Endodontic Problems Following Sporting Trauma
• 6 Dealing with Tooth Wear in Athletes
• 7 Prevention of Sporting Dental Injuries
• 8 The Role of Nutrition in Sport: Current Sports Nutrition Advice
• 9 Oral Health, the Elite Athlete, and Performance
• 10 Screening for Dental Disease Amongst Elite Athletes
• 11 Delivering Dental Facilities at Sporting Events
• Index
• End User License Agreement