(credit: Christian Petersen / Gett Images)

It’s not often that you can say you’re in better shape than an Olympic athlete. But an American adult is half as likely as an Olympian to have cavities, based on data from the CDC and from a 2013 study of athletes competing in the 2012 London Olympics. And three-quarters of these Olympians had gingivitis.

Of course, the demands of Olympic-level training set these athletes apart from the rest of us. Thirty percent of the athletes studied had taken a blow to the mouth, jaw, or face. And the average person doesn’t need an Olympic marathoner’s high-carb diet or sports drinks, which can contribute to tooth decay and other problems.

Professor Ian Needleman, who co-authored the 2013 study, explained in an interview with Ars the additional risk factors that Olympic athletes face. Needleman, of the Centre for Oral Health and Performance at the UCL Eastman Dental Institute in London, noted that “there’s good evidence that during high-intensity training, immunity is challenged.” Prolonged training also leads to dehydration in the mouth, he said, “and we have very good data showing that dehydration reduces saliva’s protection” against tooth decay, dental erosion, and gum disease.