Promoting Gum Health Day for beautiful smiles.
4th May 2024
Gum Health Day, and is promoted by the EFP (the European Federation of Periodontology). This year the slogan is "Gums… read more
UEFA 2020: Do footballers have good teeth?
8th July 2021 | Posted by: Vanessa Giraud8th July – update
What a game that was last night! It was great to see Harry Kane (read more about him below) net that rebound.
Just one more to go now!
4th July – update
With a resounding win against Ukraine, 0 – 4, England is through to the semi-finals!
Now our excitement’s mounting for the match with Denmark on Wednesday. Although emotions and drive are running high for both teams, we believe Southgate’s got the England team fired up to win.
It’s coming home!
It’s exciting to see last year’s matches going ahead now. Even better now England’s through to the final eight, thanks to second-half goals scored by Sterling and Kane. So it’s off to Rome now!
From their head to their toes, we think of our sporting heroes as being super-fit and healthy. Yet there have been some surprising reports on the overall health of athletes, including a look at our footballers’ teeth.
Footballers’ teeth are not as good as we might expect
Reports after the 2012 Olympics, highlighted the poor dental health of athletes. That was followed in 2015 by popular media reports highlighting the condition of football players’ teeth. A surprising percentage said that the state of their teeth affected their overall well-being, and they felt it had a negative impact on their training and performance.
Two reasons why footballers may have bad teeth:
- Consuming too many energy drinks: the combination of high sugar and acid, combined with habit-forming caffeine, fuels dental decay.
- Having a dry mouth: so footballers can breathe while they run, they spend a lot of time with their mouths wide open. A dry mouth means saliva is not able to work effectively at its job of fighting bacteria.
Does captain Kane score well for his teeth?
We know he can score goals, but what about his teeth? Kane does spend a lot of time running with his mouth open, after all. Well-known for not drinking alcohol, Kane looks after himself. With his self-discipline and eye on success, he probably has great teeth as well as ambition!
“I think winning with England has always been a dream, always been an ultimate goal”
Harry kane
Footballers’ teeth can be protected
Injuries can happen. Check out the video. Often it’s an elbow, sometimes it’s a boot in the mouth when you’re down, or a fall against a goal post – accidents can lead to broken or lost teeth.
For the young footballers in your home (or the older ones):
- Encourage them to drink lots of water. Not only does it help saliva production, but it doesn’t have the nasties in it that other drinks have.
- Consider getting a custom-made gum shield from your dentist. Rather than the boil-and-bite variety sold off the shelf, your dentist takes impressions so the mouth guard fits young teeth correctly. It is much more likely to stay in place just at that moment of impact when it’s needed! We recommend gum shields for all kinds of contact sports and activities that may include falls or knocks to the mouth.
Do you love watching football?
Watching sport is great. But doing it is even better!
- With childhood obesity on the rise the best thing is to get out and be active.
- Remember what you drink can damage your teeth.
- Too much screen time can damage children’s teeth.
Reminder:
- Ask your dentist about custom made gum shields.