Mouth Guards
Mouth guards are designed to protect the teeth, jaws, gums and oral cavity from damage or trauma during sports. Our Bolton dentists provide custom-made mouth guards for athletes of all ages.
How can mouth guards protect my smile?
The majority of sporting organizations now require participants to routinely wear mouth guards.
Though mouth guards are primarily designed to protect the teeth, they can also vastly reduce the degree of force transmitted from a trauma impact point (jaw) to the central nervous system (base of the brain).
In this way, mouth guards help minimize the risk of traumatic brain injury, which is especially important for younger children.
Mouth guards also reduce the prevalence of the following injuries:
- Cheek lesions
- Concussions
- Gum and soft tissue injuries
- Jawbone fractures
- Lip lesions
- Neck injuries
- Tongue lesions
- Tooth fractures
What type of mouth guard should I purchase?
Stock Mouth Guards
Can be bought directly off the shelf and immediately fitted into your mouth. The fit is universal (one-size-fits-all), meaning that that the mouth guard doesn’t adjust.
Stock mouth guards are very cheap, easy to fit, and quick to locate at sporting goods stores.
It provides minimal protection, obstructs proper breathing and speaking, and tends to be uncomfortable.
Boil-and-Bite Mouth Guards
Are usually made from thermoplastic and are easily located at most sporting goods stores. First, the thermoplastic must be immersed in hot water to make it pliable and then it must be pressed on the teeth to create a custom mold.
Boil-and-bite mouth guards are slightly more expensive than stock mouth guards, but tend to offer more protection, feel more comfortable in the mouth and allow for easy speech production and breathing.
Customized Mouth Guards
Offer the greatest degree of protection and are custom-made by the dentist.
First, the dentist makes an impression of the teeth using special material and then the mouth guard is constructed over the mold.
Customized mouth guards are more expensive and take longer to fit, but tend to be more comfortable, orthodontically correct, and are fully approved by the dentist.