West Ham United are chomping at the bit to help footballers improve their oral health
West Ham United are chomping at the bit to help footballers improve their oral health.
With managers up and down the country sick to the back teeth of their players’ performances being affected by mouth-based issues, the Hammers and seven other Premier League and Football League clubs were invited to take part in a new study by The Centre for Oral Health and Performance – part of the UCL Eastman Dental Institute.
The research study, led by Professor Ian Needleman, found that the oral health of professional footballers is poor and impacting on wellbeing and performance.
Of 187 players examined* and questioned 37% had active dental decay, 53% dental erosion and 5% moderate to severe and irreversible gum disease. Furthermore, 45% were concerned by their oral health, 20% reported an impact on their quality of life and 7% on training or performance.
The findings, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, suggest an urgent need for new strategies to promote oral health within the professional game.
With those statistics in mind, West Ham have already introduced regular dental screening to ensure players are not rendered down in the mouth.
Head of Medicine and Sports Science, Stijn Vandenbroucke, beamed: “Teeth problems never come at a good time, so we at West Ham United prefer to screen and plan preventive interventions with the dentist in the off and pre-season.
“Oral health is an area where many athletes have greater problems than the general population so it has been a massive achievement for so many professional football clubs to collaborate with each other to help us understand the scale of this problem better.
With managers up and down the country sick to the back teeth of their players’ performances being affected by mouth-based issues, the Hammers and seven other Premier League and Football League clubs were invited to take part in a new study by The Centre for Oral Health and Performance – part of the UCL Eastman Dental Institute.
The research study, led by Professor Ian Needleman, found that the oral health of professional footballers is poor and impacting on wellbeing and performance.
Of 187 players examined* and questioned 37% had active dental decay, 53% dental erosion and 5% moderate to severe and irreversible gum disease. Furthermore, 45% were concerned by their oral health, 20% reported an impact on their quality of life and 7% on training or performance.
The findings, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, suggest an urgent need for new strategies to promote oral health within the professional game.
With those statistics in mind, West Ham have already introduced regular dental screening to ensure players are not rendered down in the mouth.
Head of Medicine and Sports Science, Stijn Vandenbroucke, beamed: “Teeth problems never come at a good time, so we at West Ham United prefer to screen and plan preventive interventions with the dentist in the off and pre-season.
“Oral health is an area where many athletes have greater problems than the general population so it has been a massive achievement for so many professional football clubs to collaborate with each other to help us understand the scale of this problem better.
The club doctor organised a few dentist appointments and now a few months later I am smiling without worries, really top job from our medical boys
“Being part of this study has also helped us as a club to implement tailored interventions to treat and prevent further problems.
“There aren't many areas of screening in sport, which meet all screening criteria and can be so useful with such clear preventive benefits for athletes and club. Hopefully those who read the study will see the advantages as well."
Winston Reid smiled on the Hammers’ approach to the players’ dental health.
“In the beginning of the season, the Club organised a long screening day,” he grinned. “The medical team had a look at our heart, blood, eyes and teeth. The dentist screened my teeth and explained to me in detail the dental problems that needed to be tackled to prevent painful teeth resulting in missing training.
“The club doctor organised a few dentist appointments and now a few months later I am smiling without worries, really top job from our medical boys."
Professor Needleman thanked the eight participating clubs – West Ham, Hull City, Manchester United, Southampton, Swansea City, Brighton & Hove Albion, Cardiff City and Sheffield United – for taking part.
He said: “This is the first study of this size and scope to collect comprehensive oral health data from professional football players.
“Although the severity of oral ill-health varied from team to team, overall we found that a significant percentage of our top footballers are affected by dental decay, tooth erosion and gum disease, much of which is preventable.
“But while these findings are worrying we are pleased that clubs such as West Ham are already embracing the findings and building on their existing interventions by placing oral health care at the forefront of their medical agenda.
“We hope that other teams follow their lead and introduce robust oral health screening and promotion as a routine element of their programs.”
“There aren't many areas of screening in sport, which meet all screening criteria and can be so useful with such clear preventive benefits for athletes and club. Hopefully those who read the study will see the advantages as well."
Winston Reid smiled on the Hammers’ approach to the players’ dental health.
“In the beginning of the season, the Club organised a long screening day,” he grinned. “The medical team had a look at our heart, blood, eyes and teeth. The dentist screened my teeth and explained to me in detail the dental problems that needed to be tackled to prevent painful teeth resulting in missing training.
“The club doctor organised a few dentist appointments and now a few months later I am smiling without worries, really top job from our medical boys."
Professor Needleman thanked the eight participating clubs – West Ham, Hull City, Manchester United, Southampton, Swansea City, Brighton & Hove Albion, Cardiff City and Sheffield United – for taking part.
He said: “This is the first study of this size and scope to collect comprehensive oral health data from professional football players.
“Although the severity of oral ill-health varied from team to team, overall we found that a significant percentage of our top footballers are affected by dental decay, tooth erosion and gum disease, much of which is preventable.
“But while these findings are worrying we are pleased that clubs such as West Ham are already embracing the findings and building on their existing interventions by placing oral health care at the forefront of their medical agenda.
“We hope that other teams follow their lead and introduce robust oral health screening and promotion as a routine element of their programs.”