April signifies many things — April Fool’s, springtime, Easter, Earth Day and, our favorite, National Facial Protection Month. The dental and orthodontic communities use the month of April to spread awareness about the importance and benefits of facial protection, specifically mouthguards. If you or your kids are involved in sports and regular physical activity, you want to think about using a mouthguard to keep the smile safe in any situation. Here are the 5 important facts to know about mouthguards:
Whether you’re tackling, pucking, batting, taking punches, throwing kicks, or rolling down the hill — if you’re into sports, especially if it’s an impact sport, you should be protecting your teeth and mouth. According to the American Dental Association (ADA), you are 60 times more likely to suffer teeth injuries if you are not wearing a mouthguard while playing a sport. Using a mouthguard when you’re physically active significantly reduces the risk of sport-related dental injuries and can save your smile. ADA research shows that more than 5 million teeth are injured or knocked out every year during sports activities, which costs Americans $500 million. Wearing a mouthguard will save you lots of money, time and toothache!
A properly fitted mouthguard is a key piece of athletic gear that helps protect your teeth and mouth in any game, competition or performance. There is no wrong time to develop a good habit of wearing a mouthguard. So as soon as you start considering joining a sport or choosing a sport for your kids, you can start talking with your dental professional about mouth protection and how to make it a part of your uniform, as ADA advises.
People typically think about wearing an athletic mouthpiece in contact sports, such as football, soccer, basketball, boxing, lacrosse or hockey. But according to this study about sports injuries in the Journal of International Oral Health, there is a risk of experiencing an oral injury in non-contact sports too, like skateboarding, baseball, softball or gymnastics. Some non-contact sports often don’t require helmets or as much facial protection as contact sports. That exposes your teeth and mouth to even more risk. A mouthguard provides a cushion for the areas of impact and any hits and blows that might otherwise cause bleeding, broken teeth and bones or lip, face and jaw injuries.
When your head is in the game and you’re focused on your athletic performance, the last thing you want to worry about is an uncomfortable or unreliable mouthguard. That’s when it’s time to look into getting a custom mouthguard with your perfect fit.
While there are stock over-the-counter and boil-and-bite options, both studies and real life show that wearing a customized, made-just-for-you mouthguard makes a huge difference in comfort and protection. Custom mouthguards are individually designed for your specific needs and fit in a professional laboratory based on your dentist’s or orthodontist’s instructions. They will account for your individual bite and teeth placement and the type of sport you’re doing. The best mouthguards feel comfortable, are easy to clean and don’t restrict speech or breathing.
It’s crucial for athletes that wear braces to use a mouthpiece that fits over braces and other dental work. An orthodontist can create a custom mouthguard that is specifically designed to conform to upper brace brackets, provide instant comfort and prevent lacerations.
3D imaging has improved in the last 10 years. Taking a true color digital model from your mouth with a dental scanner now takes about 3–5 minutes. A 3D model of your mouth is basically the only thing that we need to fabricate a customized mouthguard for you.
Behind the scenes, we build a 3D printed model of your teeth with extreme accuracy which is challenging with conventional impression materials. Next step is to vacuum form multiple layers of plastics to fabricate an individualized mouthguard.
Our goal is to help every kid playing sports in our community get into a habit of wearing a mouthguard. Therefore, we developed the Porth Mouthguard Program to make it easy for every child to have a mouthguard. The cost of custom mouthguard is the main barrier for using this type of mouthguard. But we worked hard to eliminate this problem through Porth Mouthguard Program.
Email us at care.team@porth.io the name and contact info of one of your friends that you think needs a mouthguard, and we will make it happen!