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Protecting teeth with
mouthguards
Preventing
injuries is important if you participate in organized sports or other
recreational activities. A comfortable, well fitting mouthguard is an
essential piece of athletic gear that should be part of an athlete’s
standard equipment from an early age. According to the ADA, an athlete
is 60 times more likely to suffer harm to the teeth when not wearing a
mouthguard. Mouthguards help buffer an impact or blow that otherwise
could cause broken teeth, jaw injuries or cuts to the lip, tongue or
face. Mouthguards also may reduce the rate and severity of concussions.
Mouthguards
are used most commonly in contact sports, such as boxing, football,
hockey and lacrosse, but findings show that even in noncontact sports
like basketball, gymnastics or skateboarding, mouthguards help prevent
mouth and jaw injuries.
There are
three types of mouthguards: the readymade, or stock, mouthguard; the
mouth-formed “boil-and-bite” mouthguard; and the custom mouthguard
made by a dentist.
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Choose
a mouthguard that:
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While the materials used
to manufacture many cheaper types of mouthguards do have high impact
absorbing properties in tests, the overall usefulness during sporting
activities is questionable if the mouthguard is not comfortable to wear
and does not stay in place over the teeth during an impact. This
is the main reason Dentists do recommend a custom fitted mouthguard over
store-bought ones. This viewpoint has been well substantiated by Professor
FA de Wet who has over 25 years of experience researching
mouthguards.
The following two links
are recommended reading:
The
NZDA patient info page on mouthguards
The ADA's "For the Patient" pamphlet on mouthguards |
