Sports season is making its way, and that means all sportspeople, whether adults or kids, need equipment that keep them safe. We tend to look overlook one of the most important safety factors while playing a game, and that is the sports mouthguard. A sports mouthguard is an oral accessory made from soft plastic to keep your teeth and gums safe. Mouthguards are available in three variants:

• Stock or readymade mouthguard
• Mouth-formed ‘boil and bite’ mouthguard
• Custom mouthguard

While all of them may vary in comfort and price, they all work just the same and provide the same function of teeth protection. Let us now look at the overall benefits of sports mouthguards.

Complete Teeth and Gums Protection

Without a sports mouthguard, your teeth may chip, break or even knock out while playing a game or an injury. The mouthguard helps best to protect your teeth. It helps in preventing an immediate dental expense like root canal and many more down the road. And not only teeth but a mouthguard also ensures that your gums aren’t impacted. The average thickness of any mouthguard is 3.5 mm which makes it efficient and contributes to protecting the teeth and gums.

Overall Mouth Protection

Sports mouthguards help in protecting your face and mouth from bruising and cutting of lips and tongue. Mouthguards help you to cushion your teeth and when there is an abrupt impact that prevents any facial injuries and mouth lacerations. They can help avoid a situation where the lower jaw jams into the upper jaw. The sports mouthguards also help in saving from a concussion and act as a buffer to the blow.

Save Your Braces

If you wear braces, wearing a sports mouthguard is a must for you. A blow to the mouth can damage the brackets and wires of the braces and cause more damage. Mostly, the sportsperson with braces only wear mouthguards on the upper set of teeth and not lower. This sportsperson must consider wearing a sports mouthguard on both sets of his teeth. The blow to the mouth of such a sportsman with braces can lead to severe mouth injury and tears, if not used mouthguards for protection.

There a couple of things that should be kept in mind while purchasing a sports mouthguard:

• It fits properly
• It can be cleaned easily
• It doesn’t restrict breathing or speech
• It is highly durable

Or the best way to find the right sports mouthguard for yourself is to visit your dentist and discuss with them. Your dentist will suggest the best-suited mouthguard based on your oral condition and lifestyle.