Relationship between Oral Health and Sports Performance in Elite Athletes

Professor of periodontology and evidence-informed healthcare at World Dental Federation and a member of Sports Dentistry Expert Group, Ian Needleman has spent the last decade investigating oral health among athletes.

He said : " putting the studies together, the findings are remarkably consistent: in terms of dental caries, approximately half of athletes have dental caries at a level that requires intervention and good periodontal health is rare.”

While 49% of athletes have dental caries and 42% present dental erosion, 77% have gingivitis and 22% periodontitis.

The frequent consumption of sugary and acidic sports drinks and energy supplements is a major factor behind this, but Prof Needleman stressed that nutrition needed to be considered more broadly.

Other relevant issues are dehydration and dry mouth and how intensive training affects the amount and quality of saliva and produces changes in the oral microbiome that can increase the risk of dysbiosis.

He said that the causes of poor oral health among athletes were complex and could be divided into two groups:

  • Pro-inflammatory, dysbiotic factors that increase disease risk.
  • Social and structural barriers that reduce awareness and affect health behaviours, screening, and access for care.

He said that elite athletes need to be considered not only as individuals but as part of an “ecosystem” that includes support staff, medical and exercise specialists, coaches, and sports federations. “We have to think about how the ecosystem influences individuals and groups of communities within that ecosystem,” he said. “If we are to make change, we need to understand that ecosystem and plan how to intervene at different levels within it.”