Mouth Guards, The Next Cool Thing?

Should my child wear a mouth guard for sports?  ABSOLUTELY! 

Our recommendation, and the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), is that ALL athletes should always wear a mouth guard during any organized sport practice or game which carries the risk of face or mouth injury.  

So… basically if your child plays organized sports, then they need a mouth guard!  And, if your child plays baseball or softball, then an ASTM-certified face protector should be required anyway. According to the AAPD, The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) classifies mouth guards in three categories:  Custom fit, Mouth Formed (boil and bite) and Stock Mouth guards. 

A  Custom Fit Mouth Guard is definitely our number one recommendation for all athletes playing organized sports.  You can get a custom fit mouth guard from your pediatric dentist, your family dentist or your child’s orthodontist.  However, I know that cost is often a barrier to custom mouth guard use. 

My favorite Mouth Formed (boil and bite) mouth guard is the “ShockDoctor” line of mouth guards. Each of my soccer loving children have one of these! These mouth guards are easy to make and comfortable to wear.  If your child is not wearing braces, then choose the Gel-Max or the Gel-Nano mouth guard.  You can choose a strapped or strapless mouth guard and choose the mouth guard according to your child’s age and sport. The mouth guards come with easy to understand instructions on how to make the mouth guard fit your child’s mouth securely. If your child is currently in braces, then I recommend the Braces or Ultra Braces mouth guard by ShockDoctor.  These also come with easy to use instructions.The ShockDoctor mouth guards can be purchased at our office, at many athletic stores around town (Hibbetts, Dick’s Sporting Goods, etc), or online at ShockDoctor.com.

The differences in these Mouth Formed or “Boil and Bite” mouth guards are few, essentially they are all great products that will help to protect your child’s teeth and gums from trauma.  The ‘Gel –Nano’ and the ‘Ultra Braces’ mouth guards are more low profile allowing the child to talk more easily while the mouth guard is in their mouth.  I find that my own children are more compliant about wearing mouth guards if the mouth guards are less bulky and obtrusive.

Finally, my least favorite are the Stock Mouth guards. These are mouth guards that are designed to be used without any modification or change and must be clenched to be held in place.  So, these are the least protective of the different types of mouth guards.

Also, by the way, take my advice as a fellow soccer (or name your sport) mom… get the mouth guard case that clips onto your child’s sports bag.  It’s easy for these mouth guards to get lost if there is no case to put the mouth guard in after practice or games... And, it keeps it cleaner (Yuck). 

So, what if my child doesn't wear a mouthguard... Tooth trauma can have lifelong consequence. Trauma to the face and teeth cause pain, psychological effects (tooth loss/discoloration/ fracture), and have significant economic implications (in other words, fixing broken or missing teeth costs a lot so AVOID IT!). Traumatic dental injuries also have indirect implications including children’s lost hours from school, parents lost hours from work, consequences that burden children and their parents. The majority of tooth and face trauma that occurs during sports affects the upper lip, upper jaw and top front permanent teeth.  Use of a mouth guard can protect the top front teeth !  The teeth that we all smile with our whole lives!  Yes, even with a mouth guard in place and used properly, studies do show that dental and facial trauma can still occur, but chances are BETTER that it won’t!

What not wearing a mouth guard looks like...

Most importantly to remember…. Attitudes of parents, other players, coaches and officials influence mouth guard usage GREATLY!  There are only a few sports that require mouth guard use to play; football, ice hockey, lacrosse, field hockey and wrestling. It is up to us parents to ENCOURAGE our children to wear mouth guards for all organized sports, because the more players that are wearing mouth guards, then the easier it is to get kids to WEAR mouth guards… you get what I mean… right?  

Let’s make Mouth Guards the next COOL THING!  

**American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.  Policy on Prevention of Sports-related Orofacial Injuries.  Pediatric Dentistry 2013:35(special issue):  67-71.

***Copyright 2014 Angelica Rohner Pediatric Dentistry