Although mouth protection is important at all times and even more so when involved in athletic competition, care should always be taken when wearing braces.
Mouth guards provide very important protection to the mouth when engaged in athletic competitions. Research has shown that even basketball and soccer, which are considered non-contact sports, produce a large number of facial traumas due to blunt basketball contact. The mouth guard provides protection against mouth trauma from blunt force contact by enclosing the teeth with a protective barrier that adsorbs and redirects the force. When a person is wearing braces or has had recent dental work, the risk of injury is even greater. The mouth guard offers protection not only from damage to the appliances, but also shields the soft tissue of the lips and inner mouth from contact with the braces themselves.
There are three major types of mouth guards available. The stock mouth guards are preformed and factory made. They are simply removed from the containers and placed in the mouth. Although they are by far the cheapest of all mouth guards, you do not always receive a good fit which limits their ability to provide protection. The second type is called the boil and bit. This mouth guard is warmed first and then it is fitted to your mouth. The warming makes the guard malleable and it usually conforms to the shape of your mouth to provide much a much better fit and consequently more protection, than the stock variety. Despite the name, actually boiling the mouth guard is not necessary; it simply needs to be warmed to a flexible state.
The third type of mouth guard is called the custom guard. These are made by the orthodontist or a dentist specifically for basketball individual patient. Of course, they are much more expensive than the other types, but they do provide the maximum amount of protection. Custom mouth guards are recommended for athletes engaged in any type of sport that could produce mouth trauma while wearing braces. In most cases, full participation in sports is allowable when wearing braces or retainers as long as mouth guards are always used. Remember, this would include participation in sports such as basketball, soccer, or even baseball and softball, that are not generally considered contact sports. In a contact sport like football, nothing less than a custom mouth guard should be used for maximum safety.
There are other products designed to protect the mouth while wearing braces or other orthodontic appliances. These are designed more for the prevention of sores and infections and not for protection from trauma. These include such things as dental wax and oral antiseptic rinses. In the United States, silicone has largely replaced common dental wax as a protective substance. It provides a barrier between the edges of the metal braces and the soft tissue of the mouth and gums. Other types of gels are used to provide further protection and to help keep the mouth clean and free from infections.
The most serious risk to your mouth comes from blunt force trauma that can be the unexpected side effect of engaging in sports. This is why mouth guards are recommended when playing any sport where the possibility of contact exists. When you are undergoing orthodontic treatment and wearing braces or retainers, this becomes more than a recommendation and more of a necessity. The possibility of damage to the appliances themselves is bad enough, but the damage that broken or smashed metal or ceramic braces can do to the soft tissue of the mouth is even worse. Although stock mouth guards do provide protection and boil and bite guards offer even more, custom mouth guards made by your dentist are the best when wearing braces.
Aazdak Alisimo writes for the orthodontist directory at OrthodontistWeb.com.
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