Special Mouth Guards & their necessity
Sport mouth guards consist a removable accessory, which is made of elastic – polymer material, with the aim of protecting the teeth and the area around the mouth from injuries. Sport mouth guards are characterised by resistant to pressure and deformation, due to the fact that they absorb shocks, preventing sensitive areas from sport injuries. These areas include the soft tissues, the roots of the teeth, the upper and the lower jaw.
Usage and features
Mouth guards for sports are placed between the teeth covering them completely, preventing their violent convergence. Sport mouth guards can prevent injuries between the jaws, their impact with the rest of the skull and the brain from possible concussion. The use of personalised mouth guards is necessary, because it has proved that it reinforces the prevention from concussions and injuries in the facial area.
Special mouth guards must individually adapted to each athlete, because in this way the required protection will be provided. Mouth guards for sports can disperse the exerted force, while they should enable breathing, speaking and swallowing when they are placed without acquiring an unpleasant smell or taste. An important thing also, is that athletes cannot tear these mouth guards with their teeth during their workout, due to their compactness and thickness.
The dentist, according to athlete’s dental imprints, designs personalised mouth guards. The special mouth guards must have the appropriate thickness, geometry and structure in order to hug the teeth properly and create a balanced convergence between them. The achievement of the maximum impact absorption can be achieved by the estimation of every parameter and the choice of appropriate materials. However, the systematic check of these mouth guards by the dentist is really important for the maintenance of their functionality.
The necessity
The use of sport mouth guards is necessary for the majority of sports. However, in sports like kickboxing, football, basketball, hockey, gymnastics, mountain biking, extreme sports, skateboard and other sports that may cause facial injury, the usage of sport mouth guards is obligatory.
Also, for the design of special mouth guards the style of each sport, as well as injuries that may preexist, have to be taken into consideration. These factors are major for the thickness and the strength of sport mouth guards. Finally, at the end of every season the mouth guards must be replaced and adapted to athlete’s dental imprints.
