At the 2016 Rio olympics, the host nation is required to provided an eight-chair dental practice to support the athletes and olympic officials during the competition. Six sports will have Dentists present at the sidelines to provide dental first aid in the event of a serious dental injury.
The sports considered to be at greatest risk of dental injury at the olympics are:
- Basketball;
- Boxing;
- Handball (european);
- Hockey;
- Rugby; and
- Water polo
No real surprises there, but if you yourself play one of these and don’t have a mouthguard, you’re playing a game of chance. I’d recommend coming in to see me to get one custom made for you soon. The cost of the mouthguard is less than half of one filling to repair a broken tooth and many health insurance policies cover some or all of the cost.
And don’t forget our advice on dental trauma here…