Cost and Psychological Effects of Tooth Injuries on Children

I attended the Academy of Sports Dentistry Symposium a few years back in Washington, D.C., and had the privilege to sit and listen to many experts on the subject of mouthguard fabrication, concussions, and dental injuries.  Below are highlights of notes I took on a presentation by Dr. David J. Kenny related to the topic of dental injuries and the  cost and psychological effects on children.

What are the associated cost when a tooth is knocked out or damaged?

A study done by Dr. David J. Kenny examined the economic and treatment burden on parents of children, and children with the ages between 8-14 years that had suffered sever dental trauma.

Below is a list of what he and his team found in one study:

90% of children missed school time

52% missed 1-2 weeks of school time (The author of this blog, would like to see a study done on adults with dental injuries and the associated work time missed.   The more work time missed, the more increase in costs, i.e. money lost, due to dental visits related to the injury). 

86% of parents missed work time

Indirect and direct costs that may include 7-9 dental visits, $2,000 in fees and treatment the first year.

Below is a list of what he and his team found in a second study which examined the impact of dental trauma to children and parents of those children 6-12 months after the event of the dental injury:

Parents of older children reported a negative effect on their quality of life that was greater than parents of younger children.  This parental decrease in quality of life is present beyond a year following the event.

Parents and patients want return to normalcy as quickly as possible.

Normalcy never returns.

Sever dental injuries to incisors can cost $15,000 per tooth over a lifetime, multiple procedures, failed restorations, lost time, family disruptions and psychological effects.

Aside form the monetary expenses we see that there are other elements involved in dental injury cases.  Missed work,  missed school, physiological effects of losing your teeth, time off from your sporting activity, discomfort caused by the injury, and pain.  

Since athletes chances of oral facial injuries significantly rise do to their sporting activities, make sure you, and your children wear a properly fitted mouthguard at all times.  Damage Control Mouthguards has invested many hours of study, testing, and money to bring our customers the best protection available.  We also back all our mouthguards with a limited dental warranty, in the unlikely event an injury should occur while wearing our mouthguards.  Breath better, feel better-play better with a Damage Control Mouthguard.