We often hear that every athlete should acquire a mouth guard. But do athletes really need mouth guards? Being a professional athlete or a sports lover can often put you at risk of facial or oral trauma. Wearing a custom-made mouth guard can prevent various injuries and help you save time and money needed for complicated and lengthy treatments. In this article, we discuss the benefits of wearing a mouth guard and the types of mouth guards available.

Do Athletes Really Need Mouth Guards?

Wearing a mouth guard during practice and competitions can be highly beneficial for the oral health of every athlete. Let us discuss how a mouth guard works and how it can protect you from oral trauma.

What Is a Mouth Guard?

A mouth guard is an appliance made of thermoplastic materials, EVA, or ethylene-vinyl acetate. They are placed in the mouth in order to cover the teeth and create a protective barrier, absorbing the force in case of an impact on the face.

Reasons to Wear a Mouth Guard

A mouth guard that is custom-made at your dental office can provide the following benefits to athletes:

A Mouth Guard Protects Athletes from Bone Fractures

It is probably not surprising that sports activities, especially contact or extreme sports, come with a lot of falling or getting hit in the face. Thus, facial bone fractures are also not a rarity, and they require expensive treatments, such as surgery, and time-consuming rehabilitation. A mouth guard is designed to absorb the force from such an impact, preventing fractures.

A Mouth Guard Protects Teeth from Being Knocked Out or Broken

In the same way, a mouth guard protects the teeth from being chipped, cracked, or knocked out. Thus, it will prevent the need for such procedures as dental bonding, veneers, or implants.

A Mouth Guard Lowers the Risk of Blood Vessel and Tissue Damage

Facial and oral trauma can lead to blood vessel damage in the jaw and gums, which can lead to bleeding and tooth loss. Also, you can accidentally bite yourself, causing lacerations and other damage in the mouth. Since a mouth guard holds the mouth and jaw of an athlete in one position and absorbs the impact force, such damage is much less likely to occur.

A Mouth Guard Lowers the Risk of Tooth Root Damage

Some facial injuries can result in teeth being dislocated or the roots being damaged. Thus, the teeth become unable to securely remain in their sockets, and the blood flow to the roots becomes restricted. Both these conditions will eventually lead to the tooth becoming infected, dying, and falling out. Wearing a mouth guard is proven to reduce the risk of these consequences.

Types of Mouth Guards

Generally, there are two main types of mouth guards: a premade mouth guard bought over the counter and a custom-made mouth guard. Let us look at both options in detail.

Over-the-counter Mouth Guards

There are two types of premade mouth guards: one can be worn right away, and the other has to be boiled first and then adjusted to your bite. Even though a boil-and-bite mouth guard can be customized to some degree, both these types of mouth guards are made for a general consumer and most likely will not accommodate your specific oral anatomy and needs. As a result, it does not provide optimal protection. In addition, an over-the-counter mouth guard can cause soreness of the teeth and gums and jaw stiffness if it does not fit comfortably enough. The advantage of other-the-counter mouth guards is that they are cheaper than custom-made ones.

Custom-made Mouth Guards

A custom-made mouth guard is prepared specifically for you by a technician in a dental lab using the impressions of your teeth. Such a mouth guard will fit in your mouth comfortably and snuggly, providing an even distribution of force in case of an impact. Thus, a custom-made mouth guard offers much more effective protection from oral injuries. The process of making a custom mouth guard can take from a couple of days to two weeks, depending on the services your dental office provides.

Get a Custom-made Mouth Guard

Regardless of whether you are a professional athlete or do sports as a hobby, do not hesitate to make an appointment with an experienced dentist at Chino Aesthetics to get your new custom-made mouth guard. We are happy to provide our patients with comfortable and reliable mouth guards that will help preserve their oral health. We look forward to your visit to our dental office.