Custom Sports Guards
Custom Sports Guards
A sports mouth guard should be considered an essential piece of you or your child’s sports equipment for a variety of reasons. Not only do they protect the teeth from sports related injuries, they also guard against injuries to the lips, cheeks, and tongue, and can save an athlete from serious concussions and painful jaw fractures.
The potential financial benefits are not to be discounted, either. The total cost for treatment of a tooth lost during a sporting injury is approximately $5,000. Sports mouth guards can help you keep that money – and your tooth – where you need it.
Will just any sports mouth guard protect me or my child from injury?
Yes and no. There are a variety of sports mouth guards on the market today, and each is certainly better than none at all. The common types of sports mouth guards are:
– Stock mouth guards. These mouth guards can typically be purchased at most department stores. They are made from a generic mould, and therefore tend to fit poorly. Not only do they obstruct breathing and make speaking difficult, they offer very little protection from injury.
– Boil and bite mouth guards. These sports mouth guards offer more protection than stock mouth guards, as they are heated and then shaped around your teeth using pressure from your own teeth and tongue. They are not, however, nearly as effective as protectors of the mouth and jaw as custom-fitted mouth guards.
