By Amy Norton
NEW YORK, Oct 12 (Reuters Health) -- Wearing properly fitted mouthguards could protect thousands of competitive athletes from oral and facial injuries, according to a presentation at the annual meeting of the American Dental Association (ADA).
Women, in particular, should be encouraged to use mouthguards, as they are increasingly participating in competitive sports, noted Dr. Dennis Ranalli of the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine.
Speaking Tuesday at the ADA meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, Ranalli said that as women's participation on sports teams has risen, "so have the strength and intensity levels of the participants."
The ADA estimates that the use of mouthguards and facemasks in high school and college football has prevented more than 200,000 injuries to the face and mouth. But mouthguards should be used in "any sport where there's the possibility for contact," Ranalli said. That includes team sports such as basketball and soccer, as well as recreational sports such as mountain biking, he noted. Currently, said Ranalli, only five sports on the amateur level require mouthguards -- football, boxing, ice hockey, men's lacrosse, and women's field hockey. Boxing is the only sport that requires such protection for amateurs and professionals.
Ranalli likened mouthguards to seatbelts in that people largely did not benefit from the protection of seatbelts until they were required to strap them on. "Most of the time people don't do things voluntarily," he noted.
For the greatest protection, Ranalli said, athletes should use custom-fit guards. Dentists create these devices over a mold of the patient's teeth; they stay in place when players open their mouths, allowing them to breathe and speak more easily than do one-size-fits-all versions sold at sporting-goods stores, said Ranalli.
Because the tailored guards can carry price tags of more than $200, he recommended that athletes who can't afford customized protection buy "boil-and-bite" mouthguards. These guards are boiled in water so athletes can bite down on them to create a sort of self-styled mold; however, Ranalli said, a dentist should oversee the procedure.
Besides warding off broken teeth and facial bones, Ranalli noted, mouthguards offer some protection against concussion by preventing the jaw from being forced back toward the brain when a player takes a hit to the chin.
