August 8, 2000

WHO:
Elizabeth Clemente, D.D.S., D.M.D., and about 10 volunteers from the senior dental class at the UAB School of Dentistry will spend an afternoon on the football field and in the locker room at Banks Middle School, making partially-customized mouth guards for the school's football team.

WHAT:
Sweaty boys in padded suits and Fry Daddies. With a little help from a familiar kitchen appliance, Dr. Clemente will use the Fry Daddies to boil water in which the brightly-colored mouth guards are dipped to soften the plastic. The guards are then pressed into the mouths of the football players, to form a custom fit around individual teeth. Mouth guards help protect and cushion teeth against elbows and toes and other blows.

WHEN:
4 p.m. Thursday, August 10, 2000

WHERE:
Football field, Banks Middle School, 721 86th Street. Take I-59 North to 4th Avenue South. Exit. Turn right onto 4th Avenue South and go 0.6 miles to 86th Place. Turn left on 86th Place. Go one block and turn left on 86th Street. The school is two blocks down on the left.

BACKGROUND:
Clemente says mouth guards should be as common as helmets and shoulder pads in football; and says they are much needed in other contact sports such as basketball and baseball, where she sees the most sports-related dental injuries. Mouth guards are particularly important for adolescents, since they are losing the last of their baby molars and moving into a mouth full of permanent teeth. At this age, roots are still weak and teeth can be easily popped out.

The mouth guard program is one part of the UAB School of Dentistry's commitment to Banks Middle School as its Partner in Education. For the second year, the partnership among the two schools will allow Banks students access to dental professionals, proper dental care instruction and dental screening. For its efforts last year, the UAB school won the New Partner of the Year award.