Prevalence of dental trauma and use of mouthguards in professional handball players.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Published data about orofacial injuries and mouthguard use by professional handball players are scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of orofacial trauma and mouthguard use in professional handball players.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were collected from 100 professional handball players through a questionnaire, which contained 17 questions about age, experience in playing handball, playing position, orofacial trauma experience during the past 12 months, type of injury and mouthguard use.

RESULTS: Almost half (49%) of the interviewed players experienced head and/or facial trauma during the past year. The most common injuries were soft tissue lacerations (39.6%). Dental injuries occurred in 22% of the participants, with socket bleeding being the most frequent injury (14%). Of the affected teeth, 76.9% were upper incisors. Mouthguards had a statistically significant protective role regarding tooth fractures and tooth avulsion (P=.043). Players who wore a mouthguard had a 5.55 times less chance of suffering dental injuries. Almost 76% of dental injuries resulted in complications afterward. Sixty-seven percentage of the players knew that mouthguards could prevent injuries, but only 28% used them regularly. Of the players who wore a mouthguard regularly, 76.9% were advised to do so by their dentists.

CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of head and orofacial injuries among professional handball players is high. Mouthguards prevented severe dental injuries such as tooth fracture and avulsion, but their use was still limited.