A mouth guard is a piece of soft plastic shaped to fit inside the mouth, protecting the lips, cheeks, tongue and teeth and the jaw when they are hit by large object - like a ball, or someone's elbow or head.
There are 3 main types of mouth guards:
Mouth guards, regardless of type, help prevent injury to the mouth, teeth, lips, cheeks and tongue. Mouth guards worn by players with braces may even prevent injury to another player caused by contact with the braces. They also cushion blows that might cause jaw fractures.
Although mouth guards have been shown to be effective in preventing dental and orofacial injury, there is currently no evidence [1] that standard or fitted mouth guards decrease the rate or severity of concussions in athletes. The bulk of the evidence indicating a potential protective effect of mouth guards on concussion incidence has been based on a limited case series studies and retrospective, non-randomized, cross-sectional surveys. There is also evidence that mouth guard use does not result in any difference in neurocognitive test performance after concussion.
A study [2] in Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach found that mouth guards may increase the number and intensity of mouth cuts and abrasions, exposing an athlete to an increased chance of infection due to the bacteria, yeast, and fungi that mouth guards routinely collect.
Researchers stress that even with the increase in oral lesions,mouth guards are still an important piece of safety equipment for contact sports. "By no means should the value of a mouth guard be discounted," Glass emphasizes. "The protection they do offer teeth during contact sports is important. However, the length of time that a mouth guard is used and how often it is cleaned needs to be revised."
As a result, experts now recommend four safety steps:
[3]
Updated March 1, 2015
Links:
[1] https://mail.momsteam.com/node/3858
[2] https://mail.momsteam.com/node/2781
[3] http://fast.wistia.com/embed/iframe/9ceb3cf68c?videoWidth=640&videoHeight=360&controlsVisibleOnLoad=true&autoPlay=true&popover=true&plugin[postRoll][version]=v1&plugin[postRoll][text]=For more youth sports health and safety information, click here. &plugin[postRoll][link]=http://www.momsteam.com/health-safety&plugin[postRoll][style][backgroundColor]=#0a0a0a&plugin[postRoll][style][color]=#5accf5&plugin[postRoll][style][fontSize]=36px&plugin[postRoll][style][fontFamily]=Gill Sans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif&plugin[socialbar][version]=v1&plugin[socialbar][buttons]=embed-email-twitter-googlePlus-facebook&plugin[socialbar][tweetText]=Mouth Guards
[4] https://mail.momsteam.com/sports/basketball/equipment/buying-mouth-guards
[5] https://mail.momsteam.com/health-safety/position-statement-and-recommendations-for-mouthguard-use-in-sports
[6] https://mail.momsteam.com/health-safety/mouthguards-protective-but-can-cause-disease-study
[7] https://mail.momsteam.com/health-safety/mouth-guards-prevent-dental-injuries-but-need-to-be-replaced-frequently
[8] https://mail.momsteam.com/health-safety/whether-mouth-guards-reduce-concussion-risk-unclear