Professional footballers in UK have worryingly poor teeth that could be marring their performance on the pitch, say dentists in a surprising finding.
Nearly four out of 10 had cavities, the study on players at eight clubs in England and Wales showed.
The dentists, from the International Centre for Evidence- Based Oral Health at University College London, examined 187 players’ sets of teeth.
They found 53 per cent had dental erosion, 45 per cent were bothered by the state of their teeth and seven per cent said it affected their ability to train or play.
Around 40 per cent had tooth decay, compared with 30 per cent of people of a similar age in the general population. “These are individuals who otherwise invest so much in themselves so it’s a surprising finding,” Prof Ian Needleman, one of the researchers, told the BBC News.