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What Type of Mouthguard should you Use

  • May 25, 2018
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Nobody wants a missing tooth gap to hinder their smile, especially if it was caused by an accident that could have been prevented if only one was wearing a mouth guard. If you a sportsperson or you always find yourself grinding your teeth, you definitely need one.

Mouth guards are coverings worn on your teeth to protect them from injury during sports. Sporting is a worthwhile venture which can sometimes turn disastrous especially in the event of an accident. Such occurrences are not predictable, and therefore that is why you need to guard your mouth.

Individuals with dental issues like loose teeth, injured gum or even those who grind their teeth would also find it necessary to protect themselves from further damage by using mouth guards.

Why you need a mouth guard

i. It greatly reduces the risk of getting your teeth fractured or knocked out.

ii. It protects you against jaw fractures. In case you receive a blow to your head, a mouth guard prevents your teeth from knocking against each other, something that could easily cause your jaw to break.

iii. Mouth guards prevent injuries to your tongue, lips and cheeks from the sharp tooth surfaces during sporting activities.

Types of Mouth guards

There are typically three types of mouth guards; boil and bite, custom fitted and stock mouth guards.

1. Boil and Bite Mouth Protectors

These are available in any sports store. They are a good fit for the mouth and therefore perfect for protecting the teeth especially for sports that involve a lot of push and pull like Rugby. They are made of thermoplastic material. This is soaked in boiling water and then placed around the mouth to occupy every tooth using the finger and to align it through the tongue pressure. The only disadvantage with these is because once they are worn, they are not useful for a second helping.

2. Custom fitted mouth protectors

Your dentist will first carry out an observation on your mouth to see the structure and the shape of your mouth. Then, in a dental office or laboratory, an equivalent is made so that it will be fitting to your type of dental formula. This type of guard is formed using a particular kind of material that is friendly to the mouth and takes a bit of advanced skill and time. Therefore, it is the most expensive of all the mouth guards but again, the most comfortable. Others might not even notice it when you are wearing these guards because they fit so perfectly with your dental formula. With these, you are sure that your teeth are protected from imminent injury, and therefore you can go about exploring your talent without fear.

3. Stock mouth protectors

These guards are ready to wear. They come ready and are available in any sportswear shops. The challenge with these is that they cannot be adjusted and therefore you could discard many before you get your perfect fit. They are bulky in the mouth and therefore talking, and breathing can be terrible. Dentists do not recommend these because they provide minimum protection and can be damaged anytime, even during the action. You take value in your health and therefore you may not want to put on something that will present you awkwardly and not even protect you at all when in the face of danger. This is only used if you do not have enough money to purchase the others.

Conclusion

Mouth guards are ideal for those with weak teeth and other dental issues. Guards do not only protect the teeth but also the gum and the jaw bone against injury. Guards are typically worn on the upper teeth and there are no readily available lower guards. Therefore you have to request your dentist to design such, specially for you. You do not need to wait until you lose some of your teeth while sporting so that you can acquire such, nope, guard your teeth against such risks by spending a few bucks.