Disasters are an unfortunate part of life—and not just on the epic scale of a hurricane, flood or earthquake. You could easily find yourself having your own "personal pizza"-sized disaster—a car accident, a sports injury or even a tumble on a leisurely hike. And oftentimes, the consequences could affect your mouth, teeth or jaws.

We can't always account for every variable in life, but we can prepare for possible disasters, big or small. That includes being ready for a possible dental injury.

September is National Preparedness Month, when safety and emergency professionals seek to raise awareness about what people can do to prepare for when disaster strikes. When it comes to protecting you and your family's oral health, here are a few things you can do to stop or lessen the impact of a dental injury.

Use a mouthguard. These soft, plastic appliances that fit in the mouth cushion the force of a hard blow to the face and jaws. They're a must for any contact sport like football or basketball, but also for other outdoor activities like trail biking. It's also worth the investment in comfort and effectiveness to have your dentist create a mouthguard customized just for you.

Create a dental first aid kit. It's a good idea to carry along a first aid kit during sports or other physical activities. It's a great idea to include a few extra items in case of injuries to the teeth or gums. A dental mirror and flashlight, medical-grade gloves, "Save a Tooth" kits (for knocked out teeth) or even tea bags to help stop bleeding gums are handy to have if you or someone with you suffers a dental-related injury.

Know what to do in case of dental injury. As careful as you might be, you can't completely eliminate the risk of dental injury, so it's wise to know how to render specific first aid for a variety of mouth-related injuries. To that end, we've provided a free dental injury field guide that you can print to review or to include in your emergency first aid kit.

Locate dental providers away from home. Serious injuries that result in loose, knocked out or misaligned teeth need immediate dental care. No problem if your regular dentist is close at hand—but what if you're out of town or on vacation? Before you go, locate a dental provider at your destination that you can see in case of emergency, and keep their contact information close at hand.

It's no fun going through an adverse event, especially with the possibility of injury. It's even worse to meet disaster unprepared. By following these guidelines, you can have a better handle on the injury risks to you and your family's dental health.

If you would like more information about protecting your teeth from injury, please contact us or schedule a consultation. To learn more, read the Dear Doctor magazine article “An Introduction to Sports Injuries & Dentistry.”

Professional Hockey player Keith Yandle is the current NHL “iron man”—that is, he has earned the distinction of playing in the most consecutive games. On November 23, Yandle was in the first period of his 820th consecutive game when a flying puck knocked out or broke nine of his front teeth. He returned third period to play the rest of the game, reinforcing hockey players’ reputation for toughness. Since talking was uncomfortable, he texted sportswriter George Richards the following day: “Skating around with exposed roots in your mouth is not the best.”

We agree with Yandle wholeheartedly. What we don’t agree with is waiting even one day to seek treatment after serious dental trauma. It was only on the following day that Yandle went to the dentist. And after not missing a game in over 10 years, Yandle wasn’t going to let a hiccup like losing, breaking or cracking nearly a third of his teeth interfere with his iron man streak. He was back on the ice later that day to play his 821st game.

As dentists, we don’t award points for toughing it out. If anything, we give points for saving teeth—and that means getting to the dentist as soon as possible after suffering dental trauma and following these tips:

• If a tooth is knocked loose or pushed deeper into the socket, don’t force the tooth back into position.
• If you crack a tooth, rinse your mouth but don’t wiggle the tooth or bite down on it.
• If you chip or break a tooth, save the tooth fragment and store it in milk or saliva. You can keep it against the inside of your cheek (not recommend for small children who are at greater risk of swallowing the tooth).
• If the entire tooth comes out, pick up the tooth without touching the root end. Gently rinse it off and store it in milk or saliva. You can try to push the tooth back into the socket yourself, but many people feel uneasy about doing this. The important thing is to not let the tooth dry out and to contact us immediately. Go to the hospital if you cannot get to the dental office.

Although keeping natural teeth for life is our goal, sometimes the unexpected happens. If a tooth cannot be saved after injury or if a damaged tooth must be extracted, there are excellent tooth replacement options available. With today’s advanced dental implant technology, it is possible to have replacement teeth that are indistinguishable from your natural teeth—in terms of both look and function.

And always wear a mouthguard when playing contact sports! A custom mouthguard absorbs some of the forces of impact to help protect you against severe dental injury.

If you would like more information about how to protect against or treat dental trauma or about replacing teeth with dental implants, please contact us or schedule a consultation. To learn more, read the Dear Doctor magazine articles “Dental Implants: A Tooth-Replacement Method That Rarely Fails” and “The Field-Side Guide to Dental Injuries.”