Team GB Olympians are helping UCL researchers study the oral health of elite athletes and how this may impact performance.
The study team, from the UCL Centre for Oral Health and Performance (COHP) led by BRC supported Professor Ian Needleman, has already met with over 300 athletes and carried out oral health exams and interviews with sportspersons from cycling, swimming, rowing, hockey, sailing, gymnastics, rugby 7s and Team Sky, including some of our inspiring medallists from Rio 2016.
Not only does the study seek to gather comprehensive oral health data on the athletes, it will also explore the determinants of oral health, their impact on performance and barriers to the implementation of oral health interventions.
Professor Needleman said: “We have been overwhelmed by the support and enthusiasm for the research by the athletes and teams. We hope these studies will help to improve oral health and wellbeing both in elite athletes and the community.”
Results will first be presented at the International Olympic Committee conference in Monaco in March 2017.
The study follows on from previous research led by Professor Needleman which found that many of the sportsmen and women competing at the London 2012 Olympics had poor oral health, with 18 per cent of the 302 athletes studied saying their oral health had a negative impact on performance. The study authors speculated that the associations between oral health, wellbeing and performance may be explained by oral disease causing pain, systemic inflammation and a reduction in self-confidence and quality of life. They also published research early this year into professional football which has led to Manchester United recently reporting the introduction of pre-season oral health screening.
COHP was awarded recognition as one of nine research centres of excellence globally by the International Olympic Committee as a collaboration with the Institute of Sport Exercise and Health and the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine. The COHP study team are keen endurance athletes competing in Triathlon and mountain ultratrail races in the UK and Europe.
