Mouth Guards

Sports injuries often include damage to the teeth. Many sports today strongly recommend mouthguard protection. There are several mouthguards available for athletes.
Examples of sports where mouthguard protection would be smart: Acrobatics, basketball, boxing, field hockey, football, free-style skiing, gymnastics, handball, ice hockey, lacrosse, martial arts, racquetball, ringette, roller hockey, rugby, skateboarding, skiing, skydiving, snowboarding, surfing, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling.

Player Compliance: Depends on how successful the coach and parents are in convincing the players to wear the mouthguards during all practices, competitions and games. Fit and comfort are extremely important in getting the players to wear them to prevent injuries to teeth, jaws and skull (concussions).

Store-bought Mouthguards: Mouthguards purchased from a store are generic and fit small, medium or large mouths. Most people have very different sizes and shapes of mouths. Protection and comfort are very limited with these types of mouthguards. Speech is difficult and oxygen uptake is restricted.

Boil-and -bite models can work for some athletes. Often while processing these types to fit an athlete?s mouth, the mouth can get burned or cut. Many parents have experienced this situation. Often the poor fit encourages the athlete to chew the mouthguard, necessitating purchasing several mouthguards over one season.

Custom-fitted Mouthguards: A quick visit to a dental hygienist or dentist will allow you to be “fitted” for a custom-fitted mouthguard. An impression (mould) is taken of the upper teeth and a mouthguard is fabricated that fits the mouth perfectly. "Proform" mouthguards provide superior protection not only because of the fit. They are also double laminated for superior strength and shock dispersion (preventing more concussions). Speech and oxygen intake are improved with this style of mouthguard.