UKC

Someone recently asked me for a gum shield to wear whilst climbing ( I am a dentist )

I have never felt the need to wear a gum shield myself whilst climbing, and never heard of anyone else damaging their teeth whilst sport climbing (though I've heard of axes causing a few injuries whilst mixed/ice climbing)

Opinions and experiences welcome......thanks

In reply to andy rao:

My ice tool popped out just in front of my face and I got a chipped tooth and a scar on my lip for it, so the ice climbing thing is verifiable. Learned a lesson that day - not to wear a gum shield mind, just to keep my face away from sharp metallic objects whose trajectories are potentially hazardous

In reply to andy rao:

Leader hanging on ropes 10m up VS, rope under tension, lowest wire was imparting slight bend in rope, runner fires out, hits and shatters my eye tooth, removed next day

In reply to andy rao:

Im always holding gear in my mouth when climbing or biting the rope when pulling up slack. It'd be a right pain in the arse with a gumshield in.

In reply to andy rao:

A friend of one of my climbing partners fell off leading a sport route in Thiland, while holding a loop of slack in his mouth, and lost both his front teeth. Ouch.

I've also chipped a tooth biting the shaft of an axe while swapping hands mixed climbing, which I must say was a dumb thing to do.

In reply to LJC:
A dentist suggested I should wear one whilst climbing because I tend to clench my jaw when focusing or concentrating.

Didn't take him up on the offer.

In reply to deacondeacon:


That's what happens if you don't read the instructions, try putting the gum-shield in your mouth.

In reply to andy rao:

I shattered a molar on a climbing trip. I think the crusty ham sandwich and previous dental work bear more blame than the climbing though
Jk

In reply to andy rao:

Chipped about 1/3 off a front tooth when falling off an indoor bouldering wall. I wanted to make up a better story, preferably involving ice and steep, loose rock.

The plastic cap thing cost £37 and has been in place for over four years.

In reply to andy rao:

I lost a big chunk of a molar biting onto a stone in a date slice from the farm shop near Almscliff. Most expensive and painful post-bouldering treat ever (emergency dental surgery.... root canal.... crown).

In reply to JHiley:

chipped a tooth (and nearly fell off) when giving a "bomber" large cam a tug to check it was seated and it popped out and whacked me in the face.

In reply to andy rao:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=207
Shudder........

In reply to andy rao:

While sorting a bunch of wires on the same Krab I have managed to flick a nut against a front tooth and break off an expensive crown........ Twice!!!

In reply to andy rao:

Slight hijack but on a completely related subject : I've been wondering for ages if climbers have slightly higher average dental bills than "normal" people? The amount of time I seem to spend holding metallic objects (nuts/cams/draws etc) in my mouth when I'm climbing makes me think that I can't be doing my teeth any favours long term.

No actual injuries yet although I do grind my teeth when I'm concentrating...

In reply to LJC:


Seen someone loose a front tooth at the climbing wall same way (slack in teeth, fell off, tooth pulled out) - slip late (so don't need to pull up masses of slack, or if you must hold extra use your lips.

In reply to Jenny C:


I think it must be reasonably common, I know somebody who's done the same.
I'm not sure if putting the rope between your lips is such a great idea, wouldn't you just end up biting through your lips?!
Personally I just make sure I open my mouth!

In reply to MeMeMe:

Yep. This is the advantage to being a blurter not a gurner.

In reply to andy rao:
I 'kissed' Munich climb many years ago and lost upper canine which I pushed back in. Still have scars on lower lip/jaw. Finally lost tooth last year which was never happy with its lot afterwards.

In reply to andy rao:

I haven't but my dad once got pretty scared on a route, causing his mouth to dry up. He was chewing gum at the time (not sure why while he was climbing) and the gum pulled out part of a filling.

In reply to andy rao:

Sort of. I was arsing about bored in a mates car once and was testing micronuts on his dashboard. One pulled and I hit myself in the mouth with the krab...chipping a tooth

In reply to Jenny C:


That was supposed to say Clip late

In reply to andy rao:

I was once hammering in a peg runner on the lead on a new route. The peg hammer bounced off the peg as it grounded and hit me in the teeth, I still have a crown on that front tooth to remind me of the occasion.

In reply to andy rao:

I've had one or two in the pub afterwards.

In reply to andy rao:

Husband took a ground fall when his gear ripped. He knocked out 7 teeth, smashed his jaw to pieces, broke his nose, broke the orbs around each eye, chipped a vertebrae and broke his leg.

Two years on, he has just had a bone graft to augment what is left of his jawbone in preparation for dental implants.

Not sure a gum shield would have helped much in his case.

In reply to andy rao:


Yeff.

In reply to andy rao:

I have chipped a tooth (right upper incisor). I was yanking on a nut placement to see if it was set, it popped out and swung back and hit my mouth, chipping a tooth. I now have a crown on that tooth.

Of course, I now know that you don't look at the nut while yanking on it to test how set it is.

In reply to dagibbs:

Yep, can empathise here. Jugging back up having cleaned what became Easy Skanking at Stoney the wire under the roof popped and hit me square in the mouth as I was level with it. Bye bye front tooth ... Been concious of it ever since ... Ughh.
My dentist drives a posh car with an Italian name and his assistant is absolutely gorgeous.
(Not quite sure why I added that. Probably tipsy again, Ha)!
G'night.

In reply to andy rao:
I popped a veneer of my front tooth when I put the rope in my mouth when clipping... it went boink boink boink down the route. I knew it was loose as the tooth was already sore/sensitive which usually means the veneer has a few days/weeks at most before it pings off (again!!).

I confess that I didn't tell the dentist how I did it but I never, ever put the rope in my mouth now.

I've also hit myself in the mouth with an ice axe in a tooling comp but as the tools have to have the hammer/adze padded I only bruised my lip slightly.

In reply to andy rao:

Finished Grade4 on Great End ,sat in the snow with Coffee and Boost Bar ,the bar was frozen and broke a tooth ....

In reply to andy rao:

Good post, I'm also a dentist.
Needs a formal risk assessment to be performed.
......Don't really think that would work with us lot (climbers, not dentists !).
Wonder what the ratio of incidence of dental trauma / metres ascended would be ?

In reply to andy rao:

Dental injury? I haven't injured my teeth while climbing, but I have injured myself with my teeth. I was biting my lip nervously while taking a controlled fall at the end of an indoor boulder problem, hit my chin with my knee on reaching the floor, and my teeth went all the way through my lip.

Thanks for the replies

so most mishaps (where a gum shield would be of use) seem to be due to ice tools or gear ripping......

I personally don't feel compelled to wear a gum shield for any of my climbing activities (mostly indoors and trad these days)

I'll send my patient the link to this thread

thanks again, andy

In reply to andy rao:

Thanks Andy, that was a great thread! I often worry about teeth, having 1 chip and 1 wee crack from using them Instead of the correct tools, and I did wonder if people smacked themselves inna teef with gear pinging.

In reply to andy rao:
Ooo forgot to mention whilst taking my son out on his first ice climb I was watching him trying to remove a firmly placed pick (and you've guessed it...) and before I could warn him he hit himself in the mouth and chipped his front tooth. My laughter didn't help.