Why It’s Important to Wear Mouthguards In Sports
For a lot of athletes, mouthguards aren’t always the piece of equipment that’s first to be thrown in the gym bag – often because it’s not required for every sport. In reality, mouthguards can help prevent a lot of sports injuries, even in non-contact sports like gymnastics or snowboarding, and needs to be officially part of your game-day protective gear:
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Mouthguards help prevent many mouth and face injuries
The truth is, oral injuries are common while playing sports. Athletes, when not using a mouthguard, are 60 times more likely to suffer harm to their teeth. Each year 200,000 oral injuries are prevented each year just by wearing a mouthguard. Besides protecting your teeth, mouthguards also protect injuries to gums, lips, tongue and jaw. Protecting your mouth helps keep everything in place. -
Wearing a sports mouthguard is especially important for those wearing braces
Taking a blow to the face during any sport while wearing braces is painful and if you collide with another player and they come in contact with your braces, it can hurt them as well. On top of that, oral injuries can damage braces and potentially lead to more orthodontist expenses. While most mouthguards have to be customized to fit over braces, Game On® offers the only mouthguard that can be fit at home over braces. -
Mouthguards may help protect against head injuries
Many studies have been conducted to test mouthguards’ ability to help prevent concussions. While no official claims have been made, a study by the American Dental Association in 2014 found that custom-made mouthguards may provide better protection against brain injuries compared to over-the-counter mouthguards. Again, it has not been proven that mouthguards prevent concussions and we definitely don’t make that claim.
To play at your best, you have to stay protected. Always wearing the right protective gear, including an orthodontic mouthguard, will help you keep your head in the game.
