A MOUTHGUARD TO IMPROVE ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE
IS THERE AN ORAL-SYSTEMIC COMPONENT TO:
PERFORMANCE
A MOUTHGUARD FOR THE PREVENTION OF
TOOTH AND ORO-FACIAL INJURIES
IS THERE AN ORAL-SYSTEMIC COMPONENT TO:
PERFORMANCE
PROTECTION
SAFETY
Can A Mouthguard
Improve Your Performance
By Changing Your
Skeletal and Muscle Physiology
Can Mouthguards Impact Athletic Performance?
What these videos below show is that:
1. The mouthguard as the only variable in these exercises is all that alters the athlete's ability to facilitate better these exercises.
2. The mouthguard as the only variable in these exercises is all that is changing the skeletal and muscular physiology of the athlete.
- Proceed to watch the videos below:
How important is Skeletal Alignment as it affects the Muscle Physiology of an athlete?
WATCH BELOW and SEE WHY it can be important.
A Mouthguard Is the Only Variable In Changing His Skeletal and Muscle Physiology!
How Important is Balance to an Athlete?
How Important Is Strength To An Athlete?
Is A Stronger Athlete Better Than A Weaker Athlete?
READ ON:
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 kinetematic body 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?
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.
If you are in better strength and conditioning shape than your opponents during this critical time period of the game to be "stronger" at the end, so by adding to your already full "TOOLBOX", a new mouthguard to better your physiological state may help put you in a better position to execute with the game on the line.
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.
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
To date, no published independent study has verified the positive effect of mouthguards and performance. However they have also shown to not have any negative effect on human performance.
The ASD ( Academy for Sports Dentistry ) Position Statement on use of Mouthguards and other Oral Appliances for Performance of Enhancement and Strength.
1.The Academy for Sports Dentistry (ASD) has not yet (2011) identified any sound, independently peer-reviewed, published scientific research which either supports or refutes the wearing of any type of mouthguard or oral appliance for athletic performance and strength enhancement. The Academy for Sports Dentistry supports continued validated scientific research on the issue of performance enhancement.
Approved by the Academy for Sports Dentistry Board of DIrectors 1/27/2011
Procedure For Mouthguard:
1. If you are under 18 yo you must be accompanied by a parent.
2. You must fill out a Health History.
3. Be pre-tested to see if you are a good candidate for mouthguard.
4. Oral examination followed by dental impression of your teeth.
5. Return in 2-3 weeks:
6. Fitted with mouthguard
7. Testing criteria with or without your current Boil/Bite mouthguards
8. Leave with mouthguard.
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?
Well enough said about that.
Finally let me address:
Why You Are Required To Wear
A Mouthguard
And
How it is both
Protective and Safer
Lets address the Mouthguards we see high school players using primarily today.
But I do not have "blinders" on when it comes to 99% of the mouthguards used in high school sports.
Most coaches, athletic trainers and fitness personel would rather not deal with mouthguards for their high school athletes primarily because the athletes don't want to wear them.
1. Boil/Bite Mouthguards as you see at the games you attend, your athletes are "struggling" to keep them in their mouths.
2. 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.
3. The athletes, at least I have worked with, have told me as follows. "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 in", "you can't talk with it", "you can't breathe properly with it".
It is the "inability to breathe properly" as a result of an "ill-fitting" mouthguard that will "hasten fatigue your fatigue resistance" especially as your athlete logs more playing minutes during a game but especially come the last 5-10 minutes of play at the end of the game when most games are won or lost.
A. I'd like to add that Boil/Bite mouthguards that I've seen recently are getting better. The key to a good mouthguard is one that fits properly and doesn't dislodge upon impact. If your boil/bite mouthguard is working this way for you then a custom mouthguard is optional from my perspective.
The athletes perception becomes the reality to them that there is no way this "contraption - mouthguard" improves their athletic performance but you are mandated to wear it to protect your teeth in specific sports. That is why you rarely if ever see a mouthguard in high school basketball, soccer, baseball and softball where it is highly recommended but you have that option not to wear one.
How many high school athetes do you know that can say like our athletes say "My Mouthguard Makes Me Want To Wear It, Which Is A Big Difference Because The Other Ones Didn't".
However, the MIAA requires mouthguards to be worn in Football, Field Hockey Ice Hockey and Lacrosse.
Now let's understand why it is mandatory for these sports.
1. The primary reason to wear a mouthguard is to prevent Tooth injuries and Oro-Facial injuries. The reason is that approximately 80-90% of all sports injuries involve the upper four front teeth, your cosmetic zone.
2. A worst case scenario would be tooth avulsion. It could happen in the wink of an eye.
3a. How do we prevent above:
3b. 99% of mouthguards worn today are boil/bite store bought because they are less expensive.
3c. Here are some examples of hundreds of boil/bite mouthguards we've replaced for the reasons above.
3d. Our custom fit pressure laminated mouthguards have:
a. Retentive fit
b. Protective fit
c. Balanced Occlusion
and
d. You can Breathe, Speak and Hydrate
e. Also we encourage feedback if you have any issues with any comfortablity, sore spots, speech, breathing we can adjust your mouthguard for you. We want "Compliance" but the reality is a mouthguard is bulkier in your mouth than playing just gritting your teeth together.
3e. Our Custom-Fit Pressure Laminated Mouthguards conform to your mouth because we make the mouthguards over a dental cast from an impression, our mouthguards as a result of the retentive fit it does not dislodge from impact, it has a uniform thickness, we equilibrate a balanced bite to distribute forces more evenly upon contact, you can hydrate, you can talk and it makes it easier to breathe because you don't have to manage it during the game.
4. A question I get asked by every parent.
Can A Mouthguard Prevent A Concussion?
The Answer to that is NO!
MOUTHGUARDS DO NOT PREVENT CONCUSSION
However with that said:
A mouthguard should incorporate the latest concussion prevention theory built into it.
THEORIES AS TO WHY MOUTHGUARDS MAY HELP:
1. DISSIPATION OF FORCES IN AN UPWARD BLOW TO THE CHIN
2. INCREASED SEPARATION OF THE HEAD OF THE CONDYLE IN THE GLENOID FOSSA
3. INCREASE STABILIZATION BY ACTIVATING AND STRENGTHENING THE NECK MUSCLES
Academy for Sports Dentistry Position Statement on the use of Mouthguards and other Oral Appliances for the Prevention of Concussion
The Academy for Sports Dentistry supports continued validated scientific research on the issues of concussion injury reduction and performance enhancement by athletes wearing properly fitted and properly worn mouthguards. ASD is aware of new published research suggesting that a properly fitted mouthguard with a thickness of 3.0+ mm in the posterior occlusal area might reduce the incidence of concussion injury when trauma is delivered to the athlete, but is not as yet ready to support or refute the conclusion.
Approved by the Academy for Sports Dentistry Board of Directors July 19, 2015
