The Sports Dentistry department works to promote good overall health for athletes by advocating only the highest quality treatment and education methods, ensuring patients receive the specialised care they need. This is done using state-of-the-art equipment and highly trained dental personnel, as well the provision of comprehensive dental screening that can identify any treatment requirement and aid in improving their oral hygiene.
Oral surgery is an important component to sports-related injuries for athletes, with the most common area of dental trauma being the upper front teeth. The Sports Dentistry department has a highly skilled oral consultant to provide sound clinical advice and comprehensive treatment for every patient, supporting them in achieving their full potential through dental education, prevention and treatment.
The Sports Dentistry department at Aspetar offers numerous types of dental treatment for athletes including:
- Preventative treatment
- Restorative treatment using material that matches the patient’s tooth enamel for a natural look and feel
- Endodontic treatment for decay that has reached the pulp (nerve)
- Prosthodontic treatment such as full-ceramic fillings, crowns, bridges, and veneers
- Oral surgery treatments
- Periodontal treatment
- Aesthetic procedure such as teeth whitening
- Custom fitted mouthguard fabrication
- Dental screening to evaluate oral health through a thorough soft and hard tissue examination
An internationally renowned oral surgery consultant provides comprehensive clinical advice and selective treatments for athletes. As some of the most common dental injuries are sport-related it is the department’s priority to ensure that resources are available to accommodate multiple types of injuries and treatments.
Aspetar’s Sports Dentistry department is fully equipped with a digital panoramic, which is a full mouth external x-ray to view both teeth, bones, and the jaw; and a cephalometric x-ray unit, an external x-ray which gives a profile or side-view of the face and is designed to take full mouth x-rays in less than 12 seconds. Used for athlete screenings and treatment, the state-of-the-art digital x-ray equipment provides both intra-oral and extra-oral radiographs, giving our world-class dentists the opportunity to determine any possible further complications that can’t be seen through an oral examination.
Alongside the treatment of injuries, the role of prevention is critical in the field of Sports Dentistry, and protective mouthguard play a vital role in protecting the teeth, gums, and lips from trauma during sports. Aspetar’s in-house dental laboratory is able to make the highest quality custom-made mouthguards, customised to the individual fit of each athlete using specific materials and techniques. The Sports Dentistry department is also fully equipped to fabricate custom-made nightguards, aiding in TMJ disorders, as well as clenching.
The Sports Dentistry department understands the requirements of an athlete’s oral health and strives toward maintaining this through oral education and dental treatment. Aspetar is committed to promoting education in sports dentistry with prevention methods, and is the first institution to provide on-going oral health education through numerous hands-on demonstrations, lectures, internal programmes, and symposiums.
The Aspetar Sports Dentistry department has also developed the first known Dental Emergency Kit in the Middle East, an initiative that enables pain relief and immediate treatment of oral injuries for athletes on the field, before they have access to a dental clinic. Every NSMP doctor at Aspetar has been given the opportunity to learn about how to manage different types of oral injuries on the field, and how to provide temporary treatment with the use of this kit.
In the treatment of injuries, Aspetar believes that prevention and preparation are essential; something which is reflected in our screening programme, education of athletes, and research. By integrating cutting-edge research with daily clinical practice, both in the hospital and on the playing field, and providing outstanding care to athletes at all levels as part of our on-going mission to ‘assist athletes to achieve their maximum performance and full potential,’ Aspetar offers a complete solution in the field of sports medicine.