Sports mouthguards: Mouth protectors and guards for athletes.

Taking care of your sports mouthguard.

A mouthguard really won't require all that much care or attention but here are some things you can do to keep it looking new and extend its life span to its maximum.

When you are wearing your mouthguard do not clench or chew on it. Doing so might rip, tear, pierce, or compress the guard's plastic, thus compromising the level of protection it can provide. After you wear your mouthguard you should wash it off. At least give it a good rinsing with cold water. Better yet scrub it gently with your finger or a better yet a toothbrush. Use a mild soap if you want, the plastic of a good mouthguard should not retain the soap's taste. The plastic your mouthguard is made from will probably become distorted if it is exposed to elevated temperatures. Do not place your guard in hot water, place or store it in a hot environment (i.e., automobile glove box) or on a hot surface (i.e., car dashboard). Store your mouthguard in a hard, perforated container. Doing so will both protect your mouthguard from physical harm and also allow it to thoroughly dry out between uses. Most mouthguards will come with a plastic box included, if not you can usually find this type of item at your local drugstore or pharmacy.

Mouthguards are supposed to wear out.

As you use your mouthguard you can expect that it will gradually deteriorate and finally wear out. You can expect that as time goes by your guard will develop rips, tears, and holes. The fit of a mouthguard will often become slack as it wears out. If you have noticed any, or even several, of these changes you should simply realize that it is time to replace your mouthguard with a new one.

What are some of the financial consequences of not wearing a sports mouthguard?

Wearing a sports mouthguard could be considered to be a form of "insurance," both in the sense of protecting an asset (one's teeth) as well as spending a small amount of money now as a way of avoiding the potential for needing to spend a larger amount if some sort of tooth damage does occur. It's been estimated that during any one season an athlete runs about a 10% chance of experiencing some sort of orofacial (mouth) injury.

There is no typical or standard damage that one can expect to occur as a result from a blow to the mouth. Certainly we would hope that if some type of tooth damage did occur it would be only minor in nature. However, even in the case of a minor tooth repair, such as having a small filling placed to repair a chipped front tooth, you could expect that, at minimum, your costs would probably be on the order of at least $100.

In those cases where a greater degree of damage has occurred you can expect that the associated dental costs will be greater. Placing a dental crown to repair a fractured tooth can cost on the order of $1000 or so. Having your dentist perform root canal treatment for a tooth and then place a dental post and crown can easily cost a few thousand dollars. Replacing a missing tooth with a dental bridge or implant can cost a few or even several thousands of dollars.

This means that the cost to repair teeth after a sports injury can easily be 10, 20, or even 30 times the cost of a custom mouthguard. But this is just cost alone. It does not take into consideration the amount of pain and suffering that can be associated with a sports injury or the amount of time that will be spent seeking and completing the dental treatment that is required.

As a hidden cost you need to consider the long term implications of a sports injury. Even the best dental work cannot be expected to last forever. In all cases you will have to anticipate that at least a portion of the completed treatment will need to be replaced at other times in your life. This means that the oversight of not wearing a mouthguard can end up costing a person ten or even a few tens of thousands of dollars over the course of their lifetime.

First published: January, 2006

Reference sources:

Canadian Dental Hygienists Association. CDHA position paper on sports mouthguards: Putting more bite into injury prevention. Canadian Journal Dental Hygiene. Vol. 39, Num. 6. November-December, 2005.

Cummins, N and Spears, I. The effect of mouthguard design on stresses in the tooth-bone complex. Med Sci Sports Exerc. Vol. 4, Num. 6. June, 2002.

Vastardis, P. Athletic Mouthguards: Indications, Types, and Benefits. Dentistry Today. Vol. 24, Num. 12. December, 2005.

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