Sporting manufacturers are constantly improving technologies to give you more boost in your run, or power behind golf swings in an ongoing pursuit to gain that few extra percentage points of performance. Read on to find out why wearing a customised mouthguard is not only smart but can actually improve your performance.

One important part of protecting teeth is having a mouthguard.  Aussie rules, hockey, boxing, basketball, rugby are the sports where mouthguards are pretty essential.  Netball, soccer, indoor cricket and other sports where contact regularly occurs unfortunately also lead to thousands of adults and children who are treated for dental trauma every year.

A good mouthguard works to help firstly absorb the shock experienced by a blow to the face or heavy collision and secondly to spread the force out throughout the mouth.  This prevents damage that ranges from minor trauma to lips, chips and concussion of the teeth, to far more severe cases like damaged nerve supply to the teeth, tooth dislodgement, or a broken jaw.

During the 2014 AFL season West Coast player Elliot Yeo suffered significant damage to a few front teeth.  He had a mouthguard but unfortunately wasn’t wearing it.  Instead, he had his mouthguard tucked into his compression shorts at the time.

Buddy Franklin has also been on the receiving end of a nasty knock to the mouth. This time it came as he temporarily placed it in his socks for a few moments.

The difference between over the counter and customised mouthguards

Now that we can agree that a mouthguard is better than none, imagine playing sport with a tag in your top that sticks out into your neck. It rubs, cuts a little, and is generally irritating. You want to stay focused on what’s happening on the field, but you can’t help but notice this tag every 5 minutes. You can just picture the rash is causing to your skin. How much would you give to have a pair of scissors to just cut it off!

Well, having a generic over the counter mouthguard can often feel the same as wearing that top with the annoying tag. Generic mouthguards are unnecessarily chunky all the way around. This impacts on breathing, speech, communication and comfort.

A customised mouthguard is different. It’s made by a dental technician using a precise model of your teeth.

How can a customised mouthguard enhance your performance?

• Customised mouthguards are thinner yet stronger, and enables better breathing patterns.
• communication.  In team sports being able to clearly communicate is a key element of success.  With a custom mouthguard you can get your words out quickly and clearly instead of mumbling, grunting, and just making noises.
• Customised mouthguards are comfortable because rather than being made for fitting a general size.  Everyone’s set of teeth is very individual, no two people are the same.
• Customised mouthguards are more protective because they mould to the jaw and gums which help to support any impact.  The jaw is then able to help to cushion forces rather than just the teeth alone.  This gives you the confidence of knowing you have the maximum protection on your teeth to let you concentrate on doing what you need to on the sporting field.

Independent studies for heavily marketed shoe technologies like Adidas Boost soles have shown a 1% improvement in performance.  Although difficult to measure, it’s quite reasonable to expect that all the combined benefits of having a customised mouthguard would make a bigger improvement to your performance when compared to wearing an over the counter mouthguard.

Good protection from a performance enhancing mouthguard is a worthwhile investment to prevent a lifetime cost of a dental injury.  The Smile Team Balwyn North dentist offers high quality customised mouthguards at different thicknesses to suit the age and sport.

The Smile Team Balwyn North dentist offers 3 levels of mouthguards depending upon the age and level of risk for the individual;

• Junior mouthguard
• High protection mouthguard
• Professional mouthguard

We also offer an extensive range of colour and design options to match team colours.

Mouthguards are usually reviewed every year to ensure ideal fitting.  In a growing mouth through the childhood and teenage years, mouthguards may need to be adjusted or replaced more frequently to suit the developing changes in the mouth.

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