Mouth guards are dental appliances fabricated of soft plastic or laminate material that are worn over teeth and protect the lips, teeth, cheeks, and tongue from injuries during leisure activities or sports.
A mouth guard effectively prevents chipping or breakage of teeth, bone damage, tooth loss, and many other orofacial injuries. Mouth guards also protect a person’s teeth from bruxism.
They simply work as a barrier between a person’s upper and lower teeth and prevent various oral complications by protecting the form and function of original teeth.
A study has shown that athletes who do not wear a mouth guard are 60% more likely to sustain damage to their teeth during sports activities. Therefore, it is always safe to wear mouthguards during all sports and recreational activities in which contact, impact, and collisions are likely to happen.
There are various reasons to wear mouthguards, such as:
Wearing mouthguards at night helps push a person’s tongue and lower jaw forward, ensuring his breathing is not interrupted during the night. However, for such conditions,
People should get a custom-made mouthguard from their dentist rather than purchasing a ready-made one, as these mouthguards do not fit well and can result in further complications.
The temporomandibular joint connects the skull and the jaw and affects the muscles a person uses to chew. As we clench our teeth in our sleep, we apply pressure to this joint, which can result in misalignment issues and cause TMJ dysfunction.
This disorder causes difficulty in chewing, pain around and in the ears, and severe headaches. TMJ dysfunction might also damage the articular disk, which can lead to a trip to the ER.
Wearing a mouth guard effectively prevents this disorder’s development because it eases any tension one can cause on the muscles.
Chronic neck pains and headaches are generally one of the first symptoms of bruxism since temporomandibular joint dysfunction manifests itself through migraines. The tensed muscles in the shoulders, neck, mouth, and jaw result in severe headaches.
This can happen due to teeth-grinding and clenching habits. However, wearing a custom-made mouth guard eliminates chronic neck pains or headaches because you no longer have to tense up the muscles.
Once your teeth wear out or get damaged or fractured, restorative dentistry is the only way out of your dental problems, which involves crowns, fillings, and implants. However, a custom-made mouthguard can prevent all these procedures.
It generally costs around $800 and can protect the form and function of teeth to a great extent. In this way, it effectively saves you a lot of money in the long run.
Wearing mouthguards during recreational and sports activities also saves a person from severe oral disasters and helps avoid all the above-mentioned complex and expensive dental procedures.
Over-the-counter or store-bought mouthguards are a one-size-fits-all option that you can purchase at a sporting goods store for a relatively low price. These are pre-formed and ready-to-wear designed primarily for athletics.
Unfortunately, they are not explicitly fabricated for every person’s teeth and are often bulky or do not fit well. Sometimes, it also becomes hard to keep them in place.
In order to keep them in the mouth, one has to bite them down constantly. That’s why they feel uncomfortable. They can even make it difficult to talk or can also trigger gagging when worn.
Because of their poor fit, these mouthguards offer the least protection for your teeth and are usually not recommended to be worn in sports activities.
Boil-and-bite mouth guards are quite similar to over-the-counter mouth guards because they are also available to be purchased at any sporting store. However, these mouthguards are fabricated from a thermoplastic material that softens when placed in hot water.
After softening the mouth guard in water, people can place it in their mouth and, using their fingers, press the guard onto their teeth. Once set, people can remove and place the guard under cold water to fully set.
Though these mouthguards offer better comfort than stock mouthguards, they still do not offer much protection. Molding them according to a bite can change the guard’s thickness in certain areas, which reduces its level of protection and force distribution.
Custom-made mouthguards offer a superior level of protection unmatched by the guards one can buy at a local sporting goods store. These mouthguards are custom-made and specifically fabricated according to your mouth impressions.
During the dental appointment, your dentist will take impressions of your teeth so the mouth guard can provide a comfortable fit and maximum protection to your teeth.
Moreover, the materials utilized for custom-made mouthguards are durable yet comfortable enough so one can breathe and talk with ease.
It generally depends on why a person needs a mouthguard. If they need it to protect their teeth during contact sports, then they should wear it during every practice and game. However, if someone needs a mouth guard in order to treat snoring, teeth grinding, or sleep apnea, they will likely need to wear it every night while they sleep. However, people should consult their healthcare providers before wearing a mouthguard.
Custom mouthguards are considered to be the best option as they give a person optimum protection because they are specifically designed to fit the unique shape of people’s teeth. While custom mouth guards are the most expensive ones, they offer a superior level of protection for your smile that can’t be compared to the stock or boil-and-bite mouth guards. Also, keep in mind that the costs of dental restorations for a damaged tooth far exceed the cost of a custom mouthguard.