Olympic dental problems revealed
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- Published: Monday, 28 October 2013 07:26
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The study, led by Professor Ian Needleman of the Eastman Dental Institute, was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. He and his team recruited 302 athletes in total from the London 2012 athletes' village to take part in the study, which involved an oral health check-up and a personal assessment of the impact oral health had on their quality of life and athletic training and performance.
The majority of the athletes were from Africa, the Americas and Europe, and they represented 25 sports, with 34.9% from track and field, 14% from boxing and 11.4% from hockey. Researchers found that 55% of the athletes had dental caries with 41% of this group, having decay into the dentine. More than 75% of the participants had gingivitis and 15% had signs of periodontitis.
Prof. Needleman says: "Oral health is important for wellbeing and successful elite sporting performance. It is amazing that many professional athletes - people who dedicate a huge amount of time and energy to honing their physical abilities - do not have sufficient support for their oral health needs, even though this negatively impacts on their training and performance."
The researchers noted that many of the sportswomen and men who competed in the London 2012 Olympics had poor levels of oral health that were similar to the problems seen in the most disadvantaged populations. Where to buy cheap sildalis online?
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