Do Athletic Mouthguards Work
Do Mouthguards For Sports Work
How often have you seen a fellow player or friend with a broken tooth or fat lip after practice or a game? At Nxtrnd, we've seen athletes with moderate to severe mouth injuries far too often. When speaking with them, our first question tends to be "Do you have a mouthguard?" and if so, "Were you wearing it?”. In most cases, the athlete either forgot to wear it, or didn't own one because he hadn't been educated on the importance of wearing one.
Currently, the only collegiate and high school sports that require players to wear mouth guards are football, boxing, ice hockey, men's lacrosse and women's field hockey. Unfortunately, other sports classified as non-contact sports, including baseball, bicycling, basketball, wrestling and soccer do not require mouthguards but could also greatly benefit from their use.
In fact, according to a study done by the American Dental Association, mouth guards prevent more than 200,000 injuries each year in high school and collegiate football alone.
How Does A Mouthguard Work
A well fitted mouth guard acts as a buffer when impact is made to the mouth area. When direct blows to the teeth occur (from footballs, elbows, hands, the ground, and more) the mouthguard cushions the impact force protecting the teeth, jaw, lips and tongue, minimizing the effects of mouth trauma.
Should you wear a mouthguard
In football where mouthguards are worn, a 1995 study reported that 0.07% of the injuries were orofacial. The same study reported that in basketball where mouth guards are not worn, 34% of the injuries were orofacial.Even though basketball involves less physical contact than football, the study demonstrated that not wearing a mouthguard dramatically increases your chances of sustaining various degrees of mouth injury, further justifying their importance.
How to choose a mouthguard
A mouthguards design and fabrication methods are extremely important when determining what mouthguard is best for you.
A well-made mouthguard must be protective, comfortable, resilient, tear resistant, non-bulky, odorless and tasteless. Other important aspects are: allows ease of speech and breathing, has excellent retention, fit, and sufficient thickness in the critical impact zones.
Currently, over 90% of mouth guards worn are either poorly fitted or not well designed. This may be why so many athletes refuse to wear their mouth guards during practice and competition — improper fit and poor design.
Only 10% are properly designed by trusted manufacturers such as Nxtrnd Mouthguards.
At Nxtrnd, we design our guards to be the most satisfactory of all mouth protectors. We make sure they fulfill all criteria for retention, comfort and material impact absorption. They interfere the least with speaking and have virtually no effect on breathing.
1. MOST POPULAR: One™
2. MOST PROTECTIVE: Rush™
3. BEST BREATHABILITY: Zero™
4. BEST BUDGET: Classic™
5. BEST ORTHODONTIC: Braces
Being a leading manufacturer, we are able to continuously test and research new materials and designs in order to determine and address several of the most important issues before mouthguard fabrication:
- What sport will the mouthguard be worn in?
- How old are the athletes wearing the guard and do they have mixed dentition (ages 6 to 12)?
- What level of competition will the mouthguard be used in?
- Will the athlete using them be going through orthodontic treatments?
How we design our mouthguards
The mouthguards we produce belong to one of the following two types:1) Single Layer Mouthguard
Because of their single layer design, these models adapt and form well to the teeth allowing an easy and comfortable fit. Single layer mouthguards have been shown to improve performance by allowing better breath-ability, and increasing oxygen to the athletes mind and muscles.
However, since dental literature has shown that multi-layer mouthguards offer greater impact absorption than single layer guards, in order to maximize our single layer protection capacities, our product development team had to reengineer the material and design we use to fabricate our guards.
After months of research and development, we've determined that adding small air percussions to the mouthguard material enables us to reach the same impact absorption results obtained by the bulky 4mm mouthguards.
In fact, adding small air holes throughout the design acts as a shock absorber when impact is made by dispersing and redirecting the forces over a circular surface area and away from the teeth and mouth.
Being top-rated and best-selling on Amazon with hundreds of 5-star reviews, click here to learn more about our slim fitting mouth guards.
2) Multi-Layered Mouthguards
The achieve optimal impact absorption and protection, we make our Rush, Classic and ONE multi-layer mouthguards by laminating 2 to 3 layers of our unique EVA material in a machine called a pressure vacuum.
To produce defined and consistent material thicknesses across all mouthguard models, the different layers are strategically placed on top of each other and placed under high heat and pressure until they chemically fuse into one solid piece. The end result is a highly durable and highly impact absorbent mouth guard.
As mentioned in section 1, mouthguards featuring increased material thicknesses decrease impact forces transmitted to the teeth and mouth. According to multiple studies, if you want to keep wearer comfort in mind, a mouthguards optimal thickness should be between 3mm and 4mm.
At Nxtrnd, we assure our multi-layer mouthguards feature 3mm to 4mm in all important impact zones and are produced from biocompatible materials with life spans of at least 2 years. Because thicknesses vary according the athlete's needs, please click here to find the model that is right for you.
Do Mouthguards Reduce Concussions
In the world of high impact sports, one of the most commonly asked question is: Do athletic mouthguards reduce concussion in sports?Because mouthguards absorb part of the impact energy before it reaches your teeth, jaw bone and brain, some studies have suggested that wearing one can help reduce the incidence or severity of concussions. The theory is that the mouthguard can lessen the forces of an impact before it reaches the brain and therefor the likelihood for concussions is reduced.
The important aspect of mouthguards is that their primary role is to protect teeth and orofacial structures by featuring impact absorbing materials in areas most likely to be traumatized.
Our studies have shown to mouthguards featuring these design elements can enhance concussion prevention during physical activities.
- Proper thickness
- Proper retention to stay in during impact
- Complete tooth coverage
- Defined and consistent thicknesses to ensure even impact distribution.
- Added material only in high impact zones
Are Mouthguards Necessary in Sports
The pain, cost, time investments and not to mention the inconvenience of oral injury, should be a motivator to athletes and their parents to wear an athletic mouthguard during all sporting and training events.
Patients must be informed on the risk and benefits of the options available. Our mission is to educate schools and coaching staffs about the statistics behind mouthguard protection. If schools understand the importance and establish standards for protection, more athletes will be required to wear mouthguards during sporting activities.
To learn more about Nxtrnd Mouthguards and to find a guard specifically designed for your sport, please click here
—TESTED PROTECTION FOR JUST $18—
[Nxtrnd Classic Mouthguard]
The Nxtrnd Classic™ is a customizable boil and bite mouthguard featuring a unique high quality EVA material blend that is 38% more impact absorbent than its competitors. Its soft gel liner allows high impact absorption as well as a snug fit against teeth for optimal user comfort. The mouthguard is BPA, PVC and Latex free and can be used by women, men and children over the age of 11.
—PLAY IN STYLE—
[Nxtrnd ONE Mouthguard]
Having one of the largest air holes on the market, this mouthguard is designed to allow maximum breathability which is a huge benefit. In fact, by making breathing easy, a player can increase the oxygen to his muscle and brain allowing for quicker reaction times and faster recovery play after play.
Made from our signature reinforced thermoplastic material, this mouthguard absorbs 90% more energy than your standard store bought guards, and also features an over-sized breathing channel delivering 2X more airflow.
—MOST PROTECTIVE—
[Nxtrnd Rush Mouthguard]
If you're looking for a maximum protection mouthguard, the Nxtrnd RUSH™ is the model for you. Designed for the harsh impacts of combat sports like boxing and MMA, this mouthguard is bombproof and will easily protect you when going for top sets and personal records. The unique material and design this guard features has made it not only safe, but extremely comfortable and breathable as well.
—BEST BREATHABILITY—
[Nxtrnd Zero Mouthguard]
The Nxtrnd ZERO™ is a high quality guards designed to provide enhanced protection and performance. At Nxtrnd, we focus on producing thin, durable and easy to mold guards that could easily be mistaken for a $300 custom fit mouth guard made by a dentist.
MOST POPULAR
