Approved Protection Your Athletes Need
Here’s what you absolutely need to know about mouthguard recommendations:
FACT: The American Dental Association and the Academy for Sports Dentistry recommend a professionally made, properly fitted custom mouthguard for all contact and collision sports.
FACT: The Academy for Sports Dentistry states a custom mouthguard is 1000% more protective than any other type of mouthguard.
FACT: The National Athletic Trainers’ Association released a position statement on dental injuries, including recommendations for both mouthguard effectiveness and mouthguard care encouraging athletes to wear “properly fitted mouthguards during sports activities.”
The “custom” in custom mouthguards actually refers to the fit. Everyone’s mouth is different and that means mouthguards are only effective when they fit properly. And that all starts with the way the mouthguard is engineered and cut.
According to NATA, properly fitted mouthguards are made out of material that meets approval of the US Food and Drug Administration, are fabricated over a stone model from an impression, and have adequate thickness in all areas. According to NATA, most mouthguards worn by athletes during sports activities are the boil-and-bite types, which do not meet the definition of “properly fitted.”
The biggest and most frequent complaint that athletes have about their mouthguards is that they are bulky and uncomfortable, which restricts breathing and muddles speech. From NATA: “The athlete’s perceived comfort with the mouthguard is critical and of paramount importance for compliance. Noncompliance has been related to bulkiness, stability, hardness, dyspnea, speaking difficulty, oral dryness, and nausea.”
When a mouthguard is designed correctly, there isn’t any unnecessary or unwanted material in places it shouldn’t be. A proper cut also streamlines the mouthguard as much as possible, by adjusting the thickness in specific areas. It’s important to maintain proper thickness for protection, but anything beyond that could cause uncomfortable gagging.
From design and material, to cut and thickness, there is only one mouthguard that is approved by leaders like NATA: a custom mouthguard. When you want the best protection for your players, make sure it’s approved protection.
The HP Lite is a 30% thinner option with proper protection for all sports that use helmets and full-face protection (full cage/helmet).
The Pro style is our premier Gladiator, suited for all sports and athletes; including athletes with braces.
The Pro with Raptor adds a denser, not thicker, material increasing durability and resistance to chewing.
