Athletes’ oral health appears to be poor in numerous sport activities and different diseases can limit athletic skills, both during training and during competitions. Sport activities can be considered a risk factor, among athletes from different sports, for the onset of oral diseases, such as caries with an incidence between 15% and 70%, dental trauma 14–70%, dental erosion 36%, pericoronitis 5–39% and periodontal disease up to 15%. The numerous diseases are related to the variations that involve the ecological factors of the oral cavity such as salivary pH, flow rate, buffering capability, total bacterial count, cariogenic bacterial load and values of secretory Immunoglobulin A. The decrease in the production of S-IgA and the association with an important intraoral growth of pathogenic bacteria leads us to consider the training an “open window” for exposure to oral cavity diseases. Sports dentistry focuses attention on the prevention and treatment of oral pathologies and injuries. Oral health promotion strategies are needed in the sports environment. To prevent the onset of oral diseases, the sports dentist can recommend the use of a custom-made mouthguard, an oral device with a triple function that improves the health and performance of athletes. During training, the sports dentist must monitor the athletes and the sports examination protocol must be implemented with the inclusion of the clinical examination, quantitative and qualitative analysis of saliva and instructions on the use, cleansing and storage of the mouthguard.

Background: The study exploited, for the first time, Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform-InfraRed (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy on human dental pulps at different timings of root resorption (RR) to deepen the biological mechanisms occurring in deciduous teeth (De) during their replacement with permanent ones. Methods: N:36 dental pulps from sound De were divided into the following: G0 (no RR); G1 (RR less than 1/3 of root length); G2 (RR not exceeding 2/3 of root length); and G3 (RR more than 2/3 of root length). Samples were analyzed by ATR-FTIR, and the spectral data were submitted to univariate (One-way ANOVA and Tukey’s multiple comparison tests; statistical significance set at p < 0.05) and multivariate (Principal Component Analysis, PCA) analyses. Results: PCA displayed good discrimination among groups, ascribable to: (i) the intensity of the peaks of nucleic acids (~1715 cm⁻¹, ~1237 cm⁻¹, ~964 cm⁻¹, and ~815 cm⁻¹) and carbohydrates (~1159 cm⁻¹) which increased from G0 to G3 (p < 0.05); (ii) the relative amount of lipids which decreased from G0 to G3 (p < 0.05); and (iii) the intensity of the peaks at ~1014 cm⁻¹, and ~875 cm⁻¹ (phosphates and carbonates in hydroxyapatite), which decreased from G0 to G3 (p < 0.05). Conclusions: This study confirmed ATR-FTIR as a reliable and quick technique for the characterization of the dental pulp and highlighted a correlation between specific molecular changes in the dental pulp of deciduous teeth and different RR stages, shedding new light on this process and paving the way for future research, which could improve the clinical management of the primary dentition.