A year ago, my son Bradley sat in a chair patiently nervously waiting for the orthodontist to talk to us. We were there for a consultation because our general dentist had made the recommendation following an annual checkup. He had a hunch that Bradley needed braces.

He was right. 

“You need braces man,” said Dr. David Ostreicher, one of the leading orthodontists in the New York metropolitan area. 

He took us through the results of the examination and told us Bradley would have to wear the braces for two years. That news was not so bad, considering Bradley had a friend who needed some more extensive work that required a longer treatment period. After a few minutes, Dr. Ostreicher asked us if we had any questions.  

“Does this mean that I can’t play football?” asked Bradley, who was 10 years old at the time of the consultation.

Dr. Ostreicher assured Bradley that he could still play football and handed him an approved orthodontic mouth guard.    

To be fair, that was a topic that my wife, Sheryl, and I had discussed the previous night, and there are certainly many parents who would wonder the same thing. Football is a rough sport, and even though a child wears a helmet and a mouth guard, you can’t fault anyone for thinking their child has to take a break from football that when you get the news.

But that’s not the case.

“They can certainly play football, but they must wear an orthodontic mouth guard,” Dr. Ostreicher told me during a recent phone interview. “They have to wear one that’s not moldable. If it’s moldable, it can interfere with the braces. They cover the upper and lower teeth and there is a strap attached to the helmet.”

Wearing an appropriate mouth guard is essential for any child who has braces and plays football. As a parent, you have the choice of having your child use the one that the orthodontist distributes, or you could purchase one that might resemble the type of mouth guard that your child already had been wearing. 

Bradley has always been comfortable with mouth guards from Shock Doctor, an official partner of USA Football, and they make a number of different orthodontic mouth guards, including for kids who have double braces. If a child has braces and uses an approved mouth guard, there’s no problem playing football. But if they aren’t wearing an appropriate mouth guard, there could be problems.

And an orthodontist will see it firsthand at the next follow up. 

“I’m acutely aware of any unusual movements that I might see that would indicate that they were wearing the type of mouth guard that’s not approved,” said Ostreicher, who received his dental degree and certificate of specialty in orthodontics from Columbia University. “If they’re wearing an approved mouth guard, there’s usually never a problem.”

It would be natural for any parent to be concerned about one’s child playing football with braces, but there isn’t an inherit risk of playing with braces as long as your child has an approved mouth guard. In fact, Ostreicher said it might be safer to play football for a child who has braces than a child who doesn’t have braces. 

“With trauma to the face, if you’re wearing an approved mouth guard with braces on, you’re no more likely to sustain damage that you are if you’re not wearing braces,” said Ostreicher. “I’ve had instances where kids received extensive trauma to the face in football where their braces literally saved their teeth. If they didn’t have braces on, they might have lost a tooth.”

He said the braces stabilize the teeth, so in a strange way, there’s actually a benefit to a child who plays football while wearing braces. 

It’s an adjustment for any child to get used to wearing a mouth guard. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a coach or official have to remind a child to put the mouth guard back in. Some kids get used to it quicker than others, and some children just flat out don’t like it, but it’s a required part of football equipment. 

For a child with braces, it could be a bit more challenging to get used to, and it’s commonplace for it to take weeks for a kid to be completely comfortable with it. 

“I never had an athlete use the mouth guard after two or three games and it still didn’t feel perfect or comfortably,” Ostreicher said. “It’s like anything else. You have to get used to it.”

That goes for any children who have to wear braces, whether they play football or not. But for those who do, it’s comforting to know that needing braces does not mean you can’t play football. It’s also comforting for parents to know they have a choice when it comes to mouth guards, but you must do your homework and make sure it’s the right fit for your child. 

Peter Schwartz is a sports anchor for the CBS Sports Radio Network and WCBS 880 Radio in New York. His son, Bradley, plays youth football on Long Island while his younger son, Jared, will begin playing flag football this fall. Peter, his wife, Sheryl, and the boys are busy cheering on the New York Jets when they’re not at a youth football field.