The aim of health care in sports is to promote, to secure, and to recover general health of sportsmen, taking into consideration the sports specific loads. In general, a (professional) sports club has a private (para)medical team consisting of a team physician, a physiotherapist, and an attendant or masseur. The team physician organizes the arrangements and the preventive, diagnostic, and curative tasks of the (para)medical team. In sports, sometimes medical emergencies occur, such as tongue bite, cardiac problems, hypoglycaemia in diabetes, anafylactic shock, and hypo- as well hyperthermia. Sports injuries are caused by acute physical forces, chronic overload or repeated micro-traumas. High-incidence injuries in all sports are injuries of joints, bones, head, neck, back and abdomen. In case of medical emergencies, the team physician has to take action quickly and professionally. If sports injuries occur, the team physician has to provide first aid and to arrange a treatment and rehabilitation plan in consultation with the paramedical members of the team. During the treatment and rehabilitation, the team physician has to be of assistance to sportsmen. In arranging some of his tasks, a team physician can ask for assistance or help from a dentist or an oral and maxillofacial surgeon.

During competition and exercise sessions, (elite) sportsmen may need additional carbohydrates, resulting in an increased number of food intakes during the day. An increased number of food intakes may induce an increased caries risk. Additionally, almost all carbohydrate-containing sportdrinks and sportpowders have a high acidity level. Where low body weights are essential for the competition, sportsmen are at risk for disordered eating or eating disorders. Dentists should be aware of oral health risks of sportsmen and should advise them properly.

Many people enjoy sports, it is healthy and relaxing. There is, however, an inherent risk of sustaining injuries and fractures of the maxillofacial skeleton. Adequate diagnostics and treatment are mandatory to minimize the possible long-term consequences of injuries. Dentists may become primary involved in the diagnosis of such traumas, particularly when injuries are limited to the orofacial region. In addition, they can play an important role in caring for sportsmen with orofacial injuries, for instance by endodontic, restorative, and prosthodontic treatments. This paper discusses the assessment and treatment of fractures of the mandible, the zygoma, the mid-face, the orbital bones, the nose, and the frontal sinus. The assessment must followed by treatment as soon as possible. Treatment options of orofacial fractures are conservative treatment by exercising and/or oral splints and surgical reposition, either or not using osteosynthetic materials.

Swimmers, for several hours a week in contact with pool-water, may develop two different types of pool-water related oral conditions: dental erosion and dental staining. Dental erosion may occur when the acidity of the pool-water is below a pH-value of 5, dental staining when the pH-value of the pool-water is above 6,5. Of the two conditions mentioned, dental erosion is the most harmful, because it involves an irreversible process. The clinical significance is clarified by a few case-reports. In Dutch pools, the pH-value of the pool-water has to be checked daily. Therefore, among Dutch swimmers there is only a slight possibility of arising oral conditions caused by pool-water.

Sports and oral health are both well presented on the internet, but websites dedicated to an integrated approach of dentistry for sportsmen are scarce and are mostly dealing with dental trauma or mouthguards. In this issue an overview is given of some websites with a broader view on sports and oral health.