Every year there are 600,000 emergency room visits each year due to sports-related dental injuries, yet only a handful of sports mandate athletic mouth guards. Sports such as football, hockey, and lacrosse mandate mouth guards, but studies show that non-contact sports like basketball or skateboarding also see a fair amount of dental injuries. In fact, basketball has the highest number of dental injuries in all high school sports, completely outnumbering football. 

The American Dental Association (ADA) and the International Academy of Sports Dentistry (IASD) recommend athletic mouthguards for the following sports:

Why should you wear a mouth guard?

1. An athlete is 60 times more likely to incur a dental injury if they are not wearing a sports mouth guard. It's estimated that mouthguards prevent more than 200,000 dental injuries every year. 
2. Mouthguards not only protect your teeth, they also protect your jaw and the soft tissues of your lips, cheeks, and gums. 
3. The cost of a custom fit mouthguard from the store or your dentist is far cheaper than any type of treatment you would need after a dental injury. The lifetime cost to treat an an avulsed tooth can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000.
4. Most sports mouthguards come with a dental warranty (if it doesn't, don't buy it). If you injure your teeth while wearing the mouthguard, the warranty will cover the out-of-pocket cost of treatment. Think of it as extra protection on top of having an athletic mouthguard. 
5. Nothing spoils the fun of sports like an injury. Athletes can increase their play time by staying injury free. 

Required or not, mouthguards are an essential piece of equipment for athletes who play sports with any type of contact. They may not be the sexiest thing in the world, but a toothless grin is definately worst. Next time you're dreading putting in your mouth guard, remember the old saying, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."