Why Wear a Mouth Guard for Sports? 10 Real Life Reasons

From The Dawn of Time.

Dating back to when man drew on the walls of caves, the most effective way of winning over a mate has always been through competition; except for that brief time during the 1990s that we all went soft and got in touch with our emotions, thankfully that’s a thing of the past (not).

Besides a physical prowess, and a forty pound wooden club, the next best thing a man can retain in his arsenal of woman-winning weapons is a beautiful set of teeth. It was discovered the cavemen that reproduced the most often were exceptionally good at rock throwing and smiling.

As we have evolved as a species, or for the biblical types–after the fourth or fifth day–sports, the very cornerstone of competition, have changed as well.

Rock throwing has become baseball, kill that buffalo has become football, and lay on the ground and pretend to be hurt is still soccer. One thing has remained the same over all these years, though, and it’s that a great set of chompers is still mighty appealing to the opposite sex.

Save yourself some time, money, and looking like a rabid chimpanzee by grabbing a great mouthpiece and learning from these guys who did not.

So, Why wear a mouth guard?

1. Exhibit A. Unfortunately, teeth don’t exactly grow back

2. At least his lip took most of the damage

3. You don’t want to find yourself picking your teeth up off the ground… Yes, that happened.

4. A smile makeover can cost anywhere from $20k-$60k

5. Ouch! That one went through the lip

6. Think he may need a new set of braces

7. He need a lot more than a new set of braces

8. This poor kid..

9. You don’t want to look like vampire guy

10. Or this ladies man

What you need. Get it from the experts.

• Sentinel Mouthguards® custom made mouth guard fit to your unique dental anatomy.
• Stays in place and protects against head injuries 50% more than store bought brands.
• Extremely Durable – Top quality dental material lasts 5x longer than store bought brands.
• 1 year replacement warranty. If you wear through your guard, we will replace it at no extra cost to you.
• Free, all-inclusive shipping in the USA

Why wear a mouthguard?

The American Dental Association reports that 13-39% of all dental injuries are sports related. Here is an excerpt from the ADA website expressing their recommendation for mouthguard use.

“The Councils promote the importance of safety in maintaining oral health and the use of a properly fitted mouthguard as the best available protective device for reducing the incidence and severity of sports-related dental injuries. The Councils are committed to oral health promotion and injury prevention for sports participants.

Surveillance studies of mouthguard users and nonusers have consistently shown that mouthguards offer significant protection against sports-related injuries to the teeth and soft tissues. Mouthguards provide a resilient, protective surface to distribute and dissipate forces on impact, thereby minimizing the severity of traumatic injury to the hard or soft tissues.”

Forget the teeth…

That’s an easy fix compared to what a heavy impact can really bring. Many times you can’t physically see the most important damage that’s being done.

Your brain.

What  happens when you take a blow to the head? Maybe nothing the first time. Then again, you might have done some serious damage from experiencing just ONE HEAVY HIT. Just one! Imagine countless falls, countless knockouts. What’s that doing to you long term?

The fact is, we are still in the early stages of learning just how much a person can take before their time is done.

Muhammad Ali, one of the greatest athletes of all time, was an example. Parkinson’s is common to head trauma from sports that involve getting drilled in the head time and time again.

If you have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, you’re done. The list of ex-athletes that cannot speak clearly anymore, can’t remember, can’t think, experience depression, suicidal thoughts, etc. is long. The list is very very long.

If a professionally fitted mouth guard can reduce your chances of head injury why not wear one? Here is a brief synopsis of a recent study (just performed in May 2014) that is supported by the ADA:

Digital Journal published a peer-reviewed study that showed custom-made mouth guards outperformed store-bought models in reducing the risk of concussions.

High school football players wearing store-bought, over-the-counter (OTC) mouthguards were more than twice as likely to suffer mild traumatic brain injures (MTBI)/concussions than those wearing custom-made, properly fitted mouthguards – reports a new study in the May/June 2014 issue of General Dentistry, the peer-reviewed clinical journal of the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD).

“Researchers and, most importantly, parents, are looking for ways to better protect children against concussions,” said lead author Jackson Winters, DDS, a pediatric dentist who also served as a high school and collegiate football official for 28 years. “Consumers may believe that today’s advanced helmet design provides sufficient protection, but our research indicates that, when compared to over-the-counter versions, a custom-made, properly fitted mouthguard also is essential to player safety.”

The study followed 412 players from six high school football teams. Three teams (220 athletes) were randomly assigned to wear custom-made mouthguards, and three teams (192 athletes) wore standard OTC mouthguards of their own choosing. All players wore the same style of football helmet.

According to the study, 8.3 percent of athletes in the OTC mouthguard group suffered MTBI/concussion injuries. For those with custom-made mouthguards, however, the rate was only 3.6 percent. Read full article here: https://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000345815/article/study-shows-overthecounter-mouth-guards-dont-protect-as-well