Are you an athlete? Does your child play on a sports team at school? Then you might be interested in custom-made mouth guards, which athletes use to protect their teeth during play. A mouthguard is made of a semi-flexible material that comfortably fits over your teeth.
Sports are fun and exciting, but they shouldn’t put your teeth in danger. Emergency dental procedures can be costly—maybe not worth the fun of the sport.
But with custom mouth guards, you or a family member can play your sport or engage in other types of recreation without the fear of teeth being knocked out, chipped, or cracked.
Do I Need a Mouthguard?
If you’re active in competitive sports, there may be a chance that a person or piece of equipment may hit your teeth unexpectedly. Getting a mouthguard is a smart precaution, similar to wearing a helmet in football or baseball—or a seatbelt while driving.
A mouthguard can help prevent:
- Knocked-out teeth.
- Chipped teeth.
- Damage to internal tooth pulp.
- Injuries to your lips, gums, and inner cheeks.
If you’ve completed orthodontic treatment or are currently in treatment, you might have an extra incentive to protect your teeth. All that hard work wearing braces shouldn’t go to waste.
A ball or elbow striking the metal brackets of braces can cause extreme damage. You’ll be much better off covering your braces with a mouthguard.
Store-bought vs Custom Mouthguards
Here’s a very important matchup, sports fan. Is an off-the-shelf mouth guard good enough, or does a custom-made one from your orthodontist have the advantage? Let’s look at their stats:
- Store-Bought: You can buy a stock mouth guard that you wear right out of the box or a boil-and-bite version that you can customize a little bit. These both come with lower price tags but don’t protect teeth as well, because they’re not designed to follow the contours of your unique teeth (or any orthodontic appliances).
- Custom: Your orthodontist will construct these using impressions of your teeth, molding the final guards exactly for your unique smile. Because of this customization, they come with a higher price but provide the greatest levels of protection and comfort.
Mouthguards must be made of a combination of both rigid and flexible materials to protect your lower jaw and teeth. At Macdonald Orthodontics, we have a laboratory where we balance these materials in constructing our own appliances.
What Are the Steps to Getting a Mouthguard?
When you visit us for a mouth guard, your main job is to sit back and relax in our comfortable office. You can get ahead in our rewards program—and enjoy ice cream after you’re done.
Your team will also go through these steps:
- Impressions: Instead of having you bite a messy impression material, we’ll take digital scans of your teeth with a handheld device.
- Fabrication: We’ll send the impressions to our lab and build guards that conform to your teeth.
By getting mouthguards at your orthodontist office, you’ll also get the advantage of any records and knowledge we have about your teeth and jaws. If you’re going through orthodontic treatment, we’ll also know how best to protect your braces or other appliances.
It can take a little time to break-in your mouthguard, like a good baseball mitt. In the end, a customized mouthguard should fit snugly and feel comfortable. If you have any issues, visit us again for an adjustment.
Protect Your Teeth With Mouthguards in Mesa or Gilbert
Do you love sports? So do we! We even donate our time and money to local athletic programs in our community. We know the value of sports—and of your teeth or your child’s teeth. Let’s protect those beautiful smiles for many years. Visit us for the quick process of getting customized, comfortable mouthguard!