You do not have to be registered as a patient at the College of Dentistry to participate in the Sports Dentistry clinic. Call 319-335-7485 for an appointment or for more information call Dr. Jerry Walker at 319-335-7483 or e-mail jerry-walker@uiowa.edu.
Mouth protection from injuries should be considered by all children and adults participating in sports. Such injuries can occur during a wide variety of activities ranging from organized athletics including noncontact sports such as baseball and volleyball to bicycle riding and roller blading. Fortunately, effective protection can be obtained at a reasonable cost.
The requirements for a satisfactory mouthguard are protection, comfort, and retention. The wearer must be able to talk reasonably well and breathe easily. The mouthguard must be tasteless and odorless and be sufficiently strong that it will not wear through or tear easily. Currently three types of mouthguards are available ranging from the stock mouthguard which is purchased, trimmed, and put in the mouth to the custom-made type that is fitted by a dentist.
Although stock mouthguards are inexpensive, they may not fit well and may interfere with speech. As a result, the user tends to avoid wearing it. A second type, the mouth-formed "boil and bite" guard is the most widely used. Re-heating and re-fitting the guard over time may reduce thickness enough that protection becomes inadequate and the guard can be easily chewed through.
The third mouthguard type is custom-made by the dentist. The custom-made guard will fit well and provide good protection that affords minimum interference with speech. Although the custom-made guard is not expensive, a recent study of parents of soccer-playing children in Iowa City revealed that although they all believed that mouth protection was important, only a fraction (25%) were willing to pay $25 once or twice a year to obtain this safeguard. When one considers that a lost tooth over a lifetime can cost up to $15,000 - $20,000 for treatment, however, mouthguards seem very inexpensive.
A barely visible custom mouth guard protects this smile.
A custom-made mouth guard in place.
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Last Modified: February 28, 1997