What is a mouth guard?
A mouth guard helps protect the teeth, lips and other parts of the mouth from injuries like broken teeth. It is an adjustable device made of a class of plastic. Mouth guards a are also known as mouth protectors.
Who should use the mouth guard?
Mostly Athletes and the people who are in recreation activities use the mouth guards. This is mostly used at the time of playing variety of sports.
Ex: People who play foot ball, amateur boxing, field hockey, ice hockey etc use these mouth guards
Functions or Uses of Mouth Guard:
- It prevents the injuries like fractures in the jaw, neck, cerebral hemorrhages.
- Upper and lower teeth are protected from the seismic contact
- They act as a shock absorbers between the jaws of the upper and lower teeth
- Using this mouth guards athletes feel comfort and confident because of the protection
- Used to reduce the pain caused in temporomandibular joint
- It also acts as a night protector.
- While bleaching teeth, mouth guard helps a lot.
- A king of mouth guard is used for acrylic plates and brackets which is a substitute.
- It can be used to provide topical medication for the diseases such as gingivitis diseases.
- Wearing the mouth guard in the practice of games makes feel better during the match.
Types of mouth guards:
Three types of mouth guards are available in the market:
1. Custom fitted mouth guards
2. Boil and bite mouth guards
3. Ready made or stock mouth guards
Custom fitted mouth guards:
Custom fitted type of mouth guards are professionally made by the dentists in laboratories by taking the impressions of the teeth and then molded using a special material. After the mouth guard is ready it is kept in hot water and placed in mouth and shaped over the teeth using fingers. These are the mostly preferred guards used by most of the people.
Boil and bite mouth guards:
These are the thermo-plastic materials made of ethylene-vinyl acetate, and are available in many shapes that fit the users mouth very closely. This mouth guards are heated and then molded to fit the jaws of the users mouth. Boil and Bite mouth guards are mostly used by the semi-professional players and the amateur. Some of the boil and bite mouth guards are available but comforts less when compared to custom fitted ones.
Ready made or stock mouth guards:
Stock mouth guards will be available ready made in the shop which are of low cost but makes in-comfort in talking. So, this is not preferred by most of the people.
How to use a mouth guard?
- After a use rinse the mouth guard with the water
- Use the tooth paste to your mouth guard and brush it once or twice a day
- Never leave it hot water or else sun light
- Keep the mouth guard in a container which is firm
- If the mouth guard is having the damages change it time to time
This is how the mouth guard helps you to protect your teeth from being damaged.
