Episode 4 - Sports Dentistry

Pete and Jodie are joined by dentists Calum McNeil and David Fuentes to explore the world of sports dentistry.

From mouthguards and dental injuries to gum health, dehydration and athletic performance, they discuss why oral health plays a bigger role in sport than many people realise.

The conversation also touches on Andrew Scott Dental Care's work with Aberdeen Football Club and shares practical advice for anyone who enjoys keeping active.

Plus, in Tooth Be Told, we hear one of the lighter moments from life in practice.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to More Than a Smile. From Andrew Scott Dental Care.

SPEAKER_03 0:04

The podcast where we have honest, relaxed conversations about your oral health.

SPEAKER_00 0:09

And we help you feel more confident about your smile.

SPEAKER_03 0:13

Welcome back to More Than a Smile from Andrew Scott Dental Care. I am Pete, and I'll be asking the questions as always that we're all thinking, but we don't always ask.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

And I'm Jody, and I'm here to guide us through it all.

SPEAKER_03 0:26

And we're glad to have you, Jody. Now, today's episode is one that really surprised me when we started talking about it because if you asked me what sports dentistry was, I'd probably have said mouth guards and uh missing teeth. But it turns out there's a lot more to it than that. We are talking performance, gum health, injuries, dehydration, recovery, and why athletes can actually be more at risk of certain dental problems than the rest of us.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

Joining us today, we've got Callum McNeil and David Fuentes. Callum is one of the dentists here at Andrew Scott Dental Care and has a particular interest in dental implants and gum health. He's also a lifelong Aberdeen supporter, so getting involved with Aberdeen AFC has been pretty special for him.

SPEAKER_03 1:09

Well it's great to have you both on the podcast. Right, Callum, let's start with you and let's be honest, because if someone told the younger version of you that you'd be working alongside Aberdeen Football Club one day, you'd probably have bitten off their hand, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:22

Yeah, absolutely. I mean I've been a season ticket holder since around about the years uh six, so almost 32 years, the Don supporter, uh my grandda, he started taking me to the football when I was when I was that age, and yeah, it would have been an absolute dream to be working alongside the the footballers at Aberdeen. The dream would have probably been scoring the winning penalty in the Scottish Cup, never mind. But you know, it's uh it's all the same. It's been uh able to support the team and help out is fantastic.

SPEAKER_03 1:50

Yeah, and I think that you can, you know, still lay claim to win the Scottish Cup when you were behind the team, making sure their teeth look great and that they don't have any dental problems, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:59

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 2:00

Yeah, absolutely. Look, let's start right there then. How did your interest in sports dentistry come about?

SPEAKER_01 2:07

So yeah, I think I've always been interested in sports and like athletics and things like that. So I've always been quite a sporty character myself. And just yeah, doing a bit more reading into it from joining Andrew Scott Dental Care, there is actually some quite um distinct areas and where athletes differ from regular patients and some of the things that they tend to suffer from. So it's just been quite interesting and been able to, you know, do anything I can, even if I give the team that extra 1% benefit on the pitch, then I'm all for that. And if it spurs a dawn zone at success, beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 2:41

Aaron Ross Powell So there we go. We're mixing business with pleasure, kind of, aren't we? What first made you realize that there was a link between sports and oral health?

SPEAKER_01 2:50

I suppose probably just joining the practice, really, you know. Um when I joined the practice, they'd mentioned they were looking at sponsoring the club and did I have an interest in football, which yeah I did, obviously. And um yeah, from that we've done some courses as a team, we've attended some sports dentistry conferences and uh trauma lectures and things. And yeah, from there it's just sort of uh become more of an interest for us.

SPEAKER_03 3:14

Do you think it's something that most athletes are aware of?

SPEAKER_01 3:19

I think definitely not. I think athletes they're good at looking after themselves, 100%. They've got teams of people behind them, but some of the um behaviors that they're encouraged to do in terms of the sports drinks and things, which is a hundred percent required for their nutrition, keeping them going on the pitch, it can have a detrimental impact to the actual health of the teeth, which they're maybe not aware of. And while everyone's interested in the cosmetic side, and I think you know, footballers especially, you know, they're all kind of young, attractive lads, aren't they? And uh cosmetics are are are high at the forefront, but we maybe don't think about some of the damage that we're doing to our teeth with these other pretzels.

SPEAKER_03 4:02

Aaron Ross Powell This is interesting because when you think about athletes and you know you w you're watching footballers and runners and things like that, you think you know, you you're aware that coaches probably provide good nutrition plans, but you don't think of the oral and dental side of it. So, Callum, what about you? What's your experience? What led you up to where you are now, I guess?

SPEAKER_01 4:21

Yeah, well, I mean I've always I've always been stuck in Aberdeen because I again sticking quite close to Pitodrey for watching the matches. So I've I managed to get as far away as Dundee for five years for my undergraduate degree, uh been working in Aberdeen since that point. Um an implant diploma, completed that in um 2023, been placing implants for around six years, and um a few months ago just completed my diploma in periodontology, which is gum health. So yeah, that would be the my two main interests would be the implants and the the gum treatment, and obviously uh and the sports sports dynasty arm as well. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 4:58

Interesting. So you're a Don supporter. We've got David. How do you rate the Don's performance against your Spanish teams?

SPEAKER_01 5:05

Well, interestingly, the last team to beat Real Madrid in uh European final was indeed the Dons in 1983.

SPEAKER_03 5:12

So this has just turned into a football podcast, by the way, hasn't it?

SPEAKER_01 5:17

Where's Alan Shearer.

SPEAKER_00 5:22

I think most people probably aren't aware of of the links between oral health and um being an athlete. We've delivered quite a few lectures to Aberdeen football players and actually gone to the youth academy, and I've always seen that their reactions quite surprised when you you go on to go and speak about links between systemic uh health issues and oral health.

SPEAKER_03 5:44

Okay. Well, look, let's just get right into it then. So we'll start with the basics. What actually is sports dentistry? What does it involve?

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Yeah, I think it's uh essentially just regular dentistry, but specifically tailored towards a specific part of the population. So um much like you know the way we treat children or things would slightly differ, or anxious patients might need certain more TLC. We know that athletes are gonna have like a high sugar diet, we know that they're gonna um be um like drier mouths from running about getting tired, which increases your risk of caries because or increases your cursive dental decay. Um and we we know these things are here, so we need to just be more vigilant with these these people and make sure that we are maintaining things and catching things early and educating them on what they can do to you know limit the limit the disease they have.

SPEAKER_03 6:36

That's interesting already, because I wouldn't have thought the the dehydration part would be linked to tooth decay. So that's that's quite interesting. What else kind of falls under that umbrella then? Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

You've got trauma as well. That is quite important, and some grinding, quite a lot of like related to like uh lifting and so on. Lifting, what do you mean? Like weight lifting, yeah. Okay. Usually you see these patients uh with mass uh massive like muscles on their face. We call it masseters, and usually you see uh a lot of like grinding in their teeth. So yeah, like you don't think about these things, but it happens. Also, supplements um they're very high in sugar, glucose, and if you mix it with a um dry mouth and for the long term that they're gonna be exercising with a dry mouth, it puts their teeth in a very high risk of decay.

SPEAKER_03 7:28

Okay. So is it also just a a lot more than just dealing with injuries then?

SPEAKER_01 7:33

Yeah, I think injuries is the thing that we all think of, and that's the thing that can happen, you know, out the blue, it's an emergency, that's the kind of thing you're gonna we're gonna see more of. Whereas the prevention side, if we don't educate people, that's something that potentially, like we said earlier, you know, you you're just not aware of that being a problem. So that's the kind of thing that'll um burn away in the background, these little bits of decay, um, and you may not present to us with that. Whereas, you know, once you knock your tooth out, you know exactly where to go, don't you? It's the it's the other side that we're trying to educate the population on.

SPEAKER_03 8:07

Aaron Ross Powell Okay. Uh and that is interesting and also quite surprising because athletes are generally some of the healthiest people around, but yet they are often prone to certain oral health issues. What's the link between dehydration and oral health then? You've mentioned decay. Is that is that it? Is there anything else that dehydration can cause?

SPEAKER_01 8:26

Aaron Ross Powell Yeah, I mean essentially with dehydration we're just reducing the amount of saliva that's in the mouth, and the saliva is really important for reducing the sugar load. So whenever we take sugar in, the saliva's one of the roles in saliva is to wash the sugar away essentially. So if we have quite a dry mouth, we're going to have more sugar on the teeth for longer, which leads to just higher risk of decay. And we're not saying don't have the sugar, uh ideally less of it, but you know, we're fighting the guys that are making the plans then, aren't we?

SPEAKER_03 8:58

So that's surprising because, you know, if it's a footballer, it's what, 90 minutes on the field? Even if they drink water after, is that not repairing some of the damage? Is it really that those 90 minutes where they're maybe performing, they're taking these supplements, they're not drinking, that can be quite damaging?

SPEAKER_01 9:14

Aaron Powell I think it's more than 90 minutes though, isn't it? Because they're training every day, they require going to the gym out with. There's a lot more pressure on professional athletes now. And you know, I think in say 20, 30 years ago, um, you wouldn't have had such so many teams and coaches and people looking at the athletes. So to get the extra few percent out of the athletes, they will be taking a lot more supplements and the the diets looked at more. So um, okay.

SPEAKER_03 9:41

And uh I I hear that gum disease is is is a thing as well. They can be more susceptible to gum disease. Jodie, I don't know if you want to jump in on this. Any thoughts or any reasons why?

SPEAKER_00 9:50

Yeah, so it kind it kind of links also to um what Callum's saying about the sort of reduced salivary flow that they might experience during intense exercise. But saliva is also very important for the gum health as well, because it kind of acts as like a um a washing system, I suppose. Right. Um so generally when in if you look at gum disease and dental decay, if you've got a reduced uh salivary flow, uh you've maybe got you're taking in these sugary supplements, your mouth becomes more acidic in its pH level, and um therefore in general your your oral tissues and your your teeth are um at a high risk of of these problems. So it's just about um Yeah, and uh and the other thing I have noticed is is probably the sort of behaviors as well, like um maybe not super lots and lots of time to spend on the cleaning of their teeth as well. Okay. Um and just yeah, I think raising awareness about it with um athletes is really important because it's something that can easily be become better for them.

SPEAKER_03 10:54

Okay. I bet everyone who's listening right now is suddenly checking their saliva flow. I bet, I can imagine. Uh right, so let's kind of flip it then. So can poor oral health actually affect sporting performances, do we think? Callum, maybe you want to take this one?

SPEAKER_01 11:08

Yeah, I think. Um particularly pain and things like that. And there's uh story that's publicly known of Andy Robertson having to miss a Scotland trip uh because of a dental abscess. So he wasn't actually able to travel and play with the squad. So it can have that effect uh on you. And I mean imagine if you're trying to concentrate doing anything and you've got raging toothache, it's it's gonna affect your ability to perform on the pitch. So uh just you know that is in itself is is a big one.

SPEAKER_03 11:37

Aaron Ross Powell And what about the inflammation side of things? How does that maybe affect the body more widely?

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Aaron Powell Yeah, so we've got a lot of evidence now around the gum health and bidirectional links between conditions like diabetes, uh heart disease that can if you have gum inflammation um you have a lot more risk of these. And if you have uh, say diabetes, you've got a lot higher risk of actually having gum disease as well. There's a bidirectional link with these. So it's important to both control the gum disease for your general health and control your general health for your gum health as well.

SPEAKER_03 12:10

Things have moved on a lot, as we've kind of discussed on this podcast already. What are athletes maybe doing now that they perhaps weren't doing 10 years ago?

SPEAKER_01 12:17

Yeah, I think a lot of things, you know. I mean, we've moved on so much in the world of sports and how seriously we take things and you know, the times that athletes in general are putting up are insane, and the amount of uh teams of people and sports psychologists and things that athletes have behind them is just insane. I mean, if you go back to when I was watching football and famous footballer Jim Leighton, that I don't know if some of you may remember or not, but uh he he had no front teeth, you know? Okay. We just we just almost wouldn't have that nowadays, would we? You know, the the footballers are they're all wanting to look their best.

SPEAKER_03 12:48

And David, is that a side that you see of footballers the cosmetic side making sure they look their best when they're on the field?

SPEAKER_02 12:56

Well, yeah. I always wondered that way, like you see footballers with such a nice haircut and the hair doesn't move. I don't have any hair myself. But I always wonder like, uh are these guys going to the hairdresser before they play a game? Or how do they do it? But obviously they care about their image and they care about their teeth. Uh I think with uh like high performance like elite uh uh players, their priorities might not be the same for like any other person. So your performance might be first and you will do whatever it takes to get there. And maybe your mouth or teeth is secondary and they might step forward or just like cheat a little bit by doing like some kind of like implants or crowns or bridges just to get where they want to be visible, but is the health that we are talking about and prevention.

SPEAKER_03 13:48

And I know there's the health side of it, but also your patient Derek, who was on with us last week, spoke about confidence. Do you think that cosmetically that's part of it for athletes, the confidence side of things?

SPEAKER_02 13:59

Of course, and for everyone, yeah. And you you are like with a camera, like a close-up. You don't want to be with like bat teeth or like stained teeth and and like cavities. Yeah, you have you want to have like a nice mouth to like show off a bit.

SPEAKER_03 14:13

Okay. Interesting because athletes spend so much time optimizing everything else, their training, their nutrition, prioritizing sleep, but maybe not as much about oral health. Or maybe it is. So if we move on to injuries then, let's get into this because it's probably the bit most people probably think of first when it comes to sports, dental injuries. What are the most common injuries that you might see from athletes?

SPEAKER_01 14:39

Yeah, so either tooth fractures, um, so little bits of teeth chipping off, or you can get teeth like displacing. So you can either get teeth knocked out completely, or you can get teeth knocked in or knocked out a wee bit that need then repositioned and splinted, or if it's a fracture, we need to look at at building them up for you.

SPEAKER_03 14:57

Aaron Ross Powell Now we know Anderscott Dental Care does a lot with Aberdeen Football Club, but are there other sports that carry bigger risks?

SPEAKER_01 15:05

Yeah, I think obviously any contact sports. So some sports you're not allowed to compete in without a mouth guard, like so if you're boxing, karate, things like that. Um there's a risk of having dental trauma walking down the street, isn't there? But it's just about risk management and looking at when these things are most likely to occur. And I think it's something it's not the coolest to wear a mouth guard in the general perception of the population. So trying to convince people to wear mouth guards is challenging. But football, you know, I mean I've seen multiple football injuries playing through my life of like, you know, facial fractures or um noctith, little chips here and there. And these could have largely been prevented by wearing mouth guards. So, you know, we can make more comfortable-looking and better-looking mouth guards with like designs and things on them to make them like cooler. Uh but it's trying to sort of change the population because there's a couple of players I can think of in the Scottish League that wear mouth guards, but they are the one or two, you know.

SPEAKER_03 16:01

Okay. I like the idea of blinging up the mouth guards, making them cool and bespoke. So silly question then, but what should somebody do if they're mid-sport, maybe they're a professional athlete, and they've knocked out a tooth? Because they might want to keep going. Should they? What's the best advice?

SPEAKER_01 16:17

Well, should they keep going? If they want their tooth back in, ideally not is probably the answer.

SPEAKER_03 16:22

Um You're waiting for Aberdeen to score the winning goal. Yeah. There's not long left on the clock. What advice are you giving that player, Callum?

SPEAKER_01 16:30

This is a very difficult question. Have I got my Aberdeen hat on or my dental hat on?

SPEAKER_02 16:34

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

Yeah, I mean if we want Aberdeen to score the winning goal, I'd tell them to come see me for an implant later on. Um But if we're trying to save the tooth, what we should be doing is uh we're wanting initially not to touch the root of the tooth because you can contaminate the root of the tooth when you touch it. It's got the ligament still attached to it, so we want to make sure we don't touch that. So hold it just by the top bit that you can see uh in your mouth or in your mouth. You want to rinse off the debris if there is any debris, if it's like falling in the mud, with like milk or water, if that's all that's available just so it's clean. And what you ideally want to do is try and get it back in yourself. If you can put it back in. Really? Yeah, that is the the best if we can re-implant it. We're looking to get the tooth back with in your mouth within an hour. So if we can't get it back in within an hour, then uh it's it's uh advised not to replace it. So if you're not comfortable putting it back in or you can't get it back in yourself, what we'd advise you to do is try and keep it in something that's the the same. So as the root if you put it in water, it can dry the tooth out. So you want to put it in either milk or just even in your own saliva. So for adults, you can hold it in your mouth. It sounds a bit bit disgusting, but that's it's in its right environment. And then if you can get to us within an hour, we can re-implant the tooth for you and we can put a little wire splint essentially behind it.

SPEAKER_02 17:58

And that that's quite important. So I guess with with like trauma, uh you've got like a few, but if you just put it into two, one, the tooth is out, and two, the tooth is not out. So if the tooth is out, uh everything that Kylan was saying that that is so like accurate, so is you have got an hour. And if you're not confident to put it yourself, just go to a dentist. But that is the only time that will say do not carry on playing, because you want to put it back.

SPEAKER_03 18:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:23

Um so yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:24

I'm still thinking about trying to shove in your own tooth so that you guys can fix it. I was gonna ask about the importance of acting quickly, but we've just covered that off. Mouth guards then. I feel like everyone had a mouth card at school, usually one that never quite fitted properly. How much have things moved? You've mentioned that you can bling them up a little bit. What's what's the difference between, I don't know, a custom mouth guard and something you might get off the shelf?

SPEAKER_01 18:47

I think your custom mouth guard is just gonna be the most comfortable, isn't it? You know, we've custom molded that to your mouse, so it's gonna fit, it's gonna be stable. We can choose the width we make it, we can choose it if it wants to have a you know, Aberdeen badge or a ranger's badge or whatever on it, you know. So they can be blinged up in whichever way they want. And yeah, they should just be be more comfortable than the ones that you can mold yourselves.

SPEAKER_03 19:07

Aaron Powell And the fit is quite important, I assume.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

Aaron Powell Yeah, I think the fit, the the width, and there's slightly different kinds of mouth guards. So depending on what sports you're doing, if you want a more heavy-duty one, we can make it a bit thicker, or um if it's like a less contact sport, we can we can um prescribe for something that's slightly less heavy duty. So yeah, there's variations even in the types of mouth guards that we can make you.

SPEAKER_02 19:30

Yeah, but i if you think about it, if you're running and you have a mouth guard that doesn't fit properly, it might interfere on your performance. So you want something that is very tight and you forget about it and just carry on on your thing. But if you get like a one from online, there's no like gushing to your teeth, it might move a bit too much.

SPEAKER_03 19:48

Yeah, I can imagine that we'd get quite uncomfortable after a while. Okay. Jodie, any thoughts on all of this from your side?

SPEAKER_00 19:56

I was just thinking about the the rugby teams have those really cool mouth guards with the chip in them. Basically it it gives details about the like any impact force. Um but yeah, I need to I need to read up about those as well. But there is like a lot of progression. Okay. Uh it's really interesting.

SPEAKER_02 20:14

Yeah, we can customize them quite a lot. I've done like Spanish flag, obviously. Yeah. Okay, of course. Yeah. Watermelons. Big guys asking for watermelons, that was another one. Right. And okay. But yeah, you seal. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:27

Yeah, I definitely think the days of boiling, you know, those make DIY uh mouth guards, those days are gone.

SPEAKER_03 20:34

You had to put them in hot water. I do remember those. I remember that. Oh wow. Good times. Uh all right then. So back to sports then. Maybe without naming names or maybe maybe naming names. Have you ha learned anything from working with any athletes at all? Or Callum, have you ever been starstruck by anyone, any of your patients?

SPEAKER_01 20:52

Yeah, certainly. You know, it's uh you see people playing on the pitch, and then I just I just treat them as regular people, I suppose. But you're you are like in a bit, you're like, oh God, uh I I cheer this guy on every every weekend, and then here he is. But uh so yeah, I mean uh it's good to see, and it's uh it's good to be able to help. And you know, they're all really nice guys. And um we did a couple of presentations for the the various teams, and we ended up doing a presentation for the first team, and they're you know, they're all they're all good guys, so it's uh yeah, it's good to be able to help if you can.

SPEAKER_03 21:20

And those presentations, are they educational pieces? Is that is that what that is?

SPEAKER_01 21:24

Yeah, so I think um you did some as well, didn't you, Jordy? Um did some uh some of the earlier years, and then me and Andrew did presentations for the first team, focusing on some of these issues and just uh yeah, just sort of tailoring them through the years of the academy that they've got, just to try and uh give them as much support that we can give them and you know show what we can give them at Andrew Scott Danielcare.

SPEAKER_00 21:46

Yeah, it was such a pleasure. They were very receptive to it. The children that I spoke to at the um youth academy and uh they were so up for it and uh really engaging, so it was great, and I feel like we did give them Food for thought for sure.

SPEAKER_03 22:01

Right. For anyone listening who's perhaps not a professional athlete but enjoys running, cycling, football, you know, golf, going to the gym, any advice that you've got for those ki those types of people?

SPEAKER_01 22:12

Yeah, I think I mean if you're in a sport that's contact and there's a risk of getting knocked, I think it is wear a mouth guard. Um would probably be the biggest bit of advice. Uh normal people probably aren't consuming sports drinks and things to the level of the professional athletes, so the risk of increasing your decay and things like that's probably less in these people. But I think, yeah, I mean wearing a mouth guard could save you an implant, which is gonna cost you you know three, four thousand when you could wear a mouth guard that's gonna cost you two hundred. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 22:41

Is there anything that people might want to watch out for that they might notice that could be a point where they actually need to go and talk to their dentist?

SPEAKER_02 22:48

Yeah, no. I was gonna say, like uh w uh about the grinding as well, which I see quite a lot on like uh weight lifting. If you see that your teeth are all level on the same line or plane, then you are grinding. Sometimes I'm talking to a patient and I just say, Oh, do you grind? So how do you know? It's quite obvious. Uh there is a flat line that matches with the bottom teeth.

SPEAKER_03 23:12

So the flat line, we're talking the wh which which teeth would we notice these on? Not the front.

SPEAKER_02 23:17

All of them. All of them. Okay. The front and the back. Do you know when you smile you you should have like a curved line? If you see uh flat all the teeth at the same etch, you are grinding.

SPEAKER_03 23:27

And is grinding something that happens during the sport? I thought it was when people sleep.

SPEAKER_02 23:32

It's a bit of everything. Okay. Uh but but uh uh they get quite quite high intensity, like on the sport, and then they they built up that kind of like pressure, they they clench as well as they play, as they lift, and they get into uh like a habit that's not healthy for their teeth. So then coming to the dentist, maybe like restore some of their teeth. Those teeth uh that that should be in a specific uh way and size to protect all their teeth is quite important. So check with your with your dentist and also you want to get a mouth guard as soon as possible so you don't uh further like uh wear your teeth. Because obviously you've got a long tie uh long life to wear the same teeth. So you want to stop the wearing as soon as possible.

SPEAKER_03 24:20

Good advice. Okay then let's move things on to Tooth Be Told. This is where we like to get a bit of a peek into what actually goes on day to day. And here's some of the funnier dental moments that you've got. So come on then, Callum. Anything you would like to share for Tooth Be Told today?

SPEAKER_01 24:40

Yeah, so there's a couple of stories, both tying into the sort of sports dentistry as well. Nice. Um first one, uh not only am I into football, I'm a black belt and karate. So I was I was competing in a uh tournament in Germany when I was younger, and we'd made it through the whole competition, a couple of black eyes, but no broken teeth. Everyone had worn their mouth guards, we're fine. Mucking around in the pool after we'd all finished, one of the guys decides to dive into the pool and a bit that's a little bit too shallow comes back up, half a front tooth. So quick as that. Were you able to give advice at that point? I mean you had not started your dental career. At that point, I was 16, so I was I was pretty useless like the rest of them at that point. So I just uh go and get an adult. And you've got another for us. Come on. Yeah, so um I think during uni, one of the guys had been uh we're out on a night out, had a few beers, he was uh talking to some ladies, trying to impress them, telling them how good his one-armed push-up was. Oh wow, what a classic, classic way to get lucky on town. Yeah, so it's just it's all looking very good until we go for a second one and slips and crack. And then when he gets up smiling, everyone's just in fits of laughter because the poor guy's only got half a tooth now. So Yeah, unfortunately, um he didn't get very far that night and it was into the dentist next day and try again next weekend.

SPEAKER_03 26:00

So I bet everyone still talks about it. Wow, okay, that is brilliant. Thanks for taking that into Tooth Beethold. So back into sports dentistry then. We don't have much time left. So just before we wrap up, any final piece of advice that you'd like to share, Callum?

SPEAKER_01 26:18

Yeah, so I think um you've got your diet plans and things from your coaches, and the sugar is in there. So one thing that you can do is just rinse with a bit of water after you've had these gels. Yeah, and that'll reduce the sugar that's in the mouth and ultimately reduce the chances you've gained decay.

SPEAKER_03 26:33

Okay, so simple but effective. Well, I think the biggest takeaway for me today is that sports dentistry is about far more than broken teeth, it's about prevention, performance, recovery, and looking after your health as a whole. And if elite athletes are taking oral health seriously, then maybe the rest of us should too. If you've been listening today and thinking about your own oral health, whether you're a professional athlete or you just like keeping active.

SPEAKER_00 27:00

The team at Andrew Scott Dental Care, always happy to have a conversation, no pressure, just advice and guidance to help keep your smile healthy. And the website address is andrewcottdental.co.uk.

SPEAKER_03 27:12

There we go. Right, next time we're talking dental implants, hearing from one of Andrew's patients, and finding out why implants have transformed so many people's confidence and quality of life. That is next time. We'll catch you then. Thank you to David, thank you to Callum, and thank you to Jody. Thank you. Bye. Bye bye.