Not looking after your oral health can impact your physical performance, and the reverse is true too ─ playing sports can impact your oral health. Vhi Chief Dental Officer, Dr Gina Kilfeather, explains and shares some of her top tips for safeguarding both.

Poor oral health can directly and indirectly impact your sports performance. Whether you’re an athlete or play for fun the last thing you need on a match or game day is dental issues slowing you down. Let’s have a look at how the two are connected. First, here are the ways your oral health can play a role in your sports performance:

• Tooth decay: This can lead to tooth pain, infection and swelling. These symptoms can result in poor sleep, with a knock-on effect on energy and concentration, which is detrimental for sporting performance.
• Gum disease: Gum disease causes bacterial infections, which may lead to swelling and prolonged healing times for musculoskeletal injuries like fractures, sprains and strains.
• Dental occlusion: Occlusion (how your upper and lower teeth come together when you close your mouth), can affect your posture and gait, increasing your risk of injury and potentially affecting your performance.
• Dental trauma: Of course, having dental pain can severely impact your sporting performance, because the pain can be both distracting and debilitating.

How playing sports can impact your oral health:

• Dehydration caused by training can lead to a reduced saliva flow. Saliva protects our teeth, so a dry mouth can increase the risk of tooth decay.
• Some sports drinks and supplements can have high acidity levels or be high in sugar, increasing the risk of dental decay, tooth erosions and gum disease.
• Sports-related stress impacts our immune system, which impacts our body’s ability to prevent oral infections.
• Contact sports have a high risk of oral injuries, like broken or cracked teeth. 
• Stress can also lead to an increase in tooth grinding, which can cause teeth to wear down and develop problems.

Despite these possible impacts, sport is an excellent way for us to keep fit, create social connections and enjoy ourselves, so don’t be put off! Being aware and putting a few steps in place is all you need.

Here are five oral health tips that can safeguard your sports performance:

1. Make your oral health a priority. Include it as a part of your training routine in the same way you prioritise nutrition or physio.
2. Brush your teeth twice a day, for two minutes, with a fluoride toothpaste. Floss (interdental clean) your teeth daily too. Use fluoride mouthwash after consuming lots of sugar or acidic foods and drinks.
3. Speaking of, keep an eye on your sugar and acidic food and drink intake. We these things, we always want to be moderate rather than excessive. Chew sugar-free gum to increase your saliva flow after having sugary and acidic food and drinks. This saliva helps protect your teeth.
4. Wear a mouth guard when playing contact sports, in training too! Many dental traumas occur during training.
5. It’s important to get problems picked up on early so they can be prevented from getting worse or turning into big issues. Regular scale and polishes with your dentist are key to help you prevent gum disease.

Always consult with your dentist if you have any questions about your oral health and physical health. Here are four ways oral health and physical health are linked, to get you started.

This content is for information purposes only and is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek advice from your GP or an appropriate medical professional if you have concerns about your health, or before commencing a new healthcare regime. If you believe that you are experiencing a medical emergency call 999 / 112 or seek emergency assistance immediately.