Not all dental visits are checkups and cleanings, dental injuries account for many of the scheduled and emergency dental visits. Children and adults should learn about dental safety to prevent the injuries that cause damage to our teeth.

There are many causes of dental injuries including when people shove or push each other, falls down stairs, falling from bikes or falling off of playground equipment, running with objects in your mouth, falling or tripping while running, car accidents, and also biting down on hard objects. When you know these common causes for dental injuries you can be aware of the dangerous situations and learn how to prevent these dental injuries.

In order to prevent dental injuries as a result of shoving or pushing it is essential to teach children how to be considerate of others, and to remind them to wait their turn instead of resorting to pushing or shoving to get their way.

In order to prevent dental injuries from falling down stairs install handrails and instruct all family members to use them. Encourage children to use handrails at school. Make sure children and adults are reminded to slow down and walk down stairs instead of hurrying down them. It is important not to clutter the stairs with books or toys and to keep stairs well lit at night.

You can prevent falls from bikes or playground equipment which are a major cause for dental injuries by reviewing all bike and playground rules with children often, and teach them safety rules for using bikes and play equipment and make sure they are using age appropriate equipment.

Children are often seen running with objects in their mouth such as suckers, pens and pencils or toys. Periodically remind children what the dangers are of running with objects in their mouth.

Falls are a major cause of dental injuries so remind kids to walk and not run. Make a point of cleaning up toys and other clutter from walkways and large floor areas. Always clean spills as soon as they happen and leave a sign when the floor is wet so that others do not slip and fall.

To prevent dental injuries if involved in a vehicle accident always make sure everyone is wearing a seatbelt before the engine is turned on.

Another cause for dental injuries is when kids and adults bite down on hard objects especially things that should not be used to bite on. Children bite down on hard objects more than adults especially when teething.

Become familiar with the causes of dental injuries and the prevention listed above for each of them. Print out this page and post it for family members to see and remind them to follow the prevention steps for preventing dental injuries.