Can Mouthguards Impact Athletic Performance?

 

It takes months of preparation to prime an athlete for competition. It involves attitude, perserverance, rigorous training, practice time, nutrition and hydration regime, strength and conditioning, physical therapy especially as it relates to posture, balance, the influence of the muscle patterning and kinetic movement necessary for your sport. Your head coach and assistant coaches expertise, understanding what it takes to win and the studying of your opponent's strategies and how they might execute their game plan against you. The role of your certified athletic trainer with respect to preventive services, clinical evaluation of diagnosis, immediate treatment care, rehabilitation, recovery and reconditioning. "It truly takes a village" to get a team ready to compete.

 

You are now in your best shape for game-time execution to succeed.

 

Still with that said - Can it be improved upon?

 

If you have a malocclusion resulting in dysfunction related to the Teeth, TMJ and Muscles of Mastication then dysfunctional movement can show up elsewhere in the body to affect full body movement.

 

So could putting a new mouthguard in your mouth be one more "Tool in your Toolbox" to give you an additional edge over your opponent? 

 

Our goal is to improve upon what your coaches, athletic trainers and fitness personel have prepared you for your first game.

 

Most games are won or lost in the last 5-10 minutes of the last half, 5-10 minutes of the final period or the last 3 innings of the game.

 

We know the goal is:

"First" to play to your potential and do your best to be              focused and then you will have a successful season. "Second" to make the Districts.

"Third" to win a Central Mass Title.

 

It all starts months before the season even begins. We know it takes a team approach that "village". But should mouthguards even be part of that role, even in sports where they are not mandatory.

 

Most everybody involved in and playing high school sports has an "aversion" to the "contraption" we call a mouthguard.  However it is mandatory in Football, Field Hockey, Ice Hockey and Lacrosse.

 

Mouthguard perception become mouthguard reality. You struggle to keep it in your mouth, when you can't keep it in you fish hook it, you try cutting the backs off, you chew on it, you can't wait to spit it out after play has stopped, you can't hydrate with it, you can't talk with it, you can't beathe properly with it. 

 

We have found in our preliminary experimental projects that we undertook with high school teams to evaluate about our new mouthguard that:

 

         

  1. Most replied there was a 1-3% improvement in play.

      A few replied there was a 3-5% improvment in play.

      No one said it had a negative effect.     

   2. Felt that it was just part of their uniform/equipment

       after 1-3 practices/games.

   3. Athletes reported almost 100% COMPLIANCE!!!

       They have never worn a mouthguard like this                   before and it makes you want to wear it which is a         big difference because with prior mouthguards             you didn't. No mouthguard has ever done what             this has done.

   6. We have found Growth and Development plays a           significant role so results are limited if you are               under 16 1/2 years old and even more limited                 younger than that.     

    7. We can say If you are younger than 16 1/2 yo and           you want a better mouthguards ask your Family             Dentist to make you one or at least to assist you           at their office in the boil/bite technique to get the           best fit possible or go online to make a                           mouthguard where an impression is involved.

    8. We also found that the more serious in intensity,           attitude and driven focus the high school athlete           was about preparing for their sport, putting the             time in, strength and conditioning etc.                             (such as the NCAA Division I - II - III recruited                  athletes) performed better.

     9. Also other athletes although not recruited but                intensely dedicated to putting the time in to                    prepare themselves for their sports season                    definitely tested better in our office.

 

We utilize MORA Theory in the Form of a Type IV Mouthguard taking into consideration:

Your Age: It works best we find if you are at least 16 1/2 years old

Dental Occlusion

TMJ

Body Asymmetry

Cranio-Mandibular-Cervical Relationship as it relates to Posterior Rotation of the Cranium with resultant Forward Head Posture

 

A better Cranio-Mandibular-Cervical Vertebral Alignment means more effective muscle recruitment to improve strength, airway dynamics, flexibility, range of motion and balance.   

 

We prefer athletes bring their current mouthguards so that we can pre-test and post test to see if our device works better.  We believe it makes no sense to purchase a new mouthguard if you do not need to. Why even consider changing from your current mouthguard if it is working best for you and your sport?

 

To understand how a change in your jaw position can affect your body dynamics watch the following videos below.

 

What these videos below show is that:

     1. The mouthguard as the only variable in the exercises is all that alters the athlete's ability to facilitate better these exercises.

      2. The mouthguard as the only variable in the exercises is all that is changing the skeletal and muscular physiology of the athlete.

 

Proceed to watch the videos below: