A suggested universal protocol for dental examination in sports.

The athletes of any sport and level submit their bodies to constant exercise. Any given pathology can increase the risk of injury, illness, or even reduced performance. The medical examination is valuable in diagnosing existing health problems and preventing medical issues that might compromise the athlete's overall health when exercising. The stomatognathic system is not an exemption, as oral pathologies, including dental caries and periodontal diseases, are found in high incidence in sports. The need for accurate and detailed dental examination in sports leaded dentists from the European Association for Sports Dentistry and the Academy for Sports Dentistry to elaborate a universal dental examination in sports protocol that can record the overall oral health of the athlete, including the teeth, periodontium, and musculoskeletal screening, for all athletes. The outcome of this stomatognathic examination allows sports physicians and professionals other than dentists to have a complete image of the individual oral health condition of any given athlete, and it allows the dentists to efficiently screen and prevent pathologies, as well as to advise on the eligibility to practice sports from the oral health perspective.

Oro-facial injuries in Central American and Caribbean sports games: a 20-year experience.

Dental services in sports competitions in the Games sponsored by the International Olympic Committee are mandatory. In every Central American, Pan American and Olympic Summer Games, as well as Winter Games, the Organizing Committee has to take all the necessary measures to assure dental services to all competitors. In all Olympic villages, as part of the medical services, a dental clinic is set up to treat any dental emergency that may arise during the Games. Almost every participating country in the Games has its own medical team and some may include a dentist. The major responsibilities of the team dentist as a member of the national sports delegation include: (i) education of the sports delegation about different oral and dental diseases and the illustration of possible problems that athletes or other personnel may encounter during the Games, (ii) adequate training and management of orofacial trauma during the competition, (iii) knowledge about the rules and regulations of the specific sport that the dentist is working, (iv) understanding of the anti-doping control regulations and procedures, (v) necessary skills to fabricate a custom-made and properly fitted mouth guard to all participants in contact or collision sports of the delegation. This study illustrates the dental services and occurrence of orofacial injury at the Central American and Caribbean Sports Games of the Puerto Rican Delegation for the past 20 years. A total of 2107 participants made up the six different delegations at these Games. Of these 279 or 13.2% were seen for different dental conditions. The incidence of acute or emergency orofacial conditions was 18 cases or 6% of the total participants. The most frequent injury was lip contusion with four cases and the sport that experienced more injuries was basketball with three cases.