Oral trauma, mouthguard awareness, and use in two contact sports in Turkey Sport activities often increase the risk of traumatic injuries to dental and oral tissues. These injuries are reported to be most prominent in soccer, basketball, hockey, and boxing (1–3). In contrast to some sports, rotational torque as well as repeated direct impact forces to the head are hypothesized mech- anisms of head injury in boxing. Boxing poses a high risk for severe focal and diffuse neurologic injuries, intracranial hemorrhage, cerebral edema, and dif- fuse axonal injury (4). Recent reports mentioned that participation in a number of sports does carry a considerable risk of dental injury, not only in contact sports such as rugby and hockey, but also in less dangerous sports such as basketball. There have also been attempts to extend the use of mouthguards in many other sports (3, 5). The importance of using mouth protectors has been widely accepted. Injuries, including dental and orofacial soft tissue injuries, as well as jaw fractures have been dramatically reduced by the use of these devices (6). The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the occurrence of oral and dental injuries during the practice of contact sports, and to determine the awareness and use of mouthguards in a young adult sample of semi-professional or amateur boxers and tae kwon do participants in Turkey. Material and methods The sample consisted of 274 boxers and tae kwon do participants in Turkey between 17 and 27 years of age. All participants were using boil-and-bite Dental Traumatology 2006; doi: 10.1111/j.1600-9657.2006.00386.x All rights reserved Copyright Ó Blackwell Munksgaard 2006 DENTAL TRAUMATOLOGY 242 Dental Traumatology 2006; 22: 242–246 Tulunoglu I, O ¨ zbek M. Oral trauma, mouthguard awareness, and use in two contact sports in Turkey. Ó Blackwell Munksgaard, 2006. Abstract – The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the occurrence of dental hard and soft tissue injuries during partici- pation in contact sports, and the awareness and use of mouth- guards in a young adult sample of semi-professional or amateur boxers and tae kwon do participants in Turkey. The samples consisted of 274 young adults [174 male (63.5%) and 100 female (36.5%)] aged between 17 and 27 years of which 185 (67.5%) were tae kwon do practitioners, and 89 (32.5%) were boxers. The participants answered a standard questionnaire. All answers were evaluated and then statistical analyses were performed. Of the total sample, 61 of the subjects (22.3%) suffered dental trauma. Of these sufferers, 32 (17.3%) were boxers and 29 (32.6%) were tae kwon do practitioners. It was found that 19 (6.9%) athletes lost their teeth post-trauma. Of the 54 subjects (19.7%) suffering soft tissue injuries, 44 were female (81.5%), while only 10 were male (18.5%), of which 40 (74.1%) were tae kwon do practitioners and 14 (25.9%) were boxers. Of the total sample of 274 subjects, 228 (83.2%) were well informed about mouthguard usage. Of the total sample, 153 (55.8%) of the subjects used mouthguards, all of which were boil-and-bite type. The results of our study indicate that dentists and sports authorities in Turkey should promote the use of mouthguards in contact sports such as tae kwon do and boxing, which have a serious risk for dental and oral soft tissue trauma and tooth loss. Ibrahim Tulunoglu 1 , Murat O ¨ zbek 2 Departments of 1 Prosthodontics and 2 Oral Diagnosis and Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey Key words: mouthguard; contact sports; trauma Murat O ¨ zbek, Department of Oral Diagnosis and Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Hacettepe University, 06100 Sihhiye, Ankara, Turkey Tel.: +90 312 3052211 Fax: +90 312 3104440 e-mail: muratozbek1963@yahoo.com Accepted 11 May, 2005