Athletic Mouthguards

It might seem like athletics and the dentist’s office don’t have much in common. But a dentist can fix your teeth after a sports injury. Even better, a dental professional is able to protect your teeth from harm with the help of a mouthguard.

We provide custom-fitted athletic mouthguards for Gahanna, OH patients at Creekside Family Dental.

Why Are Mouthguards Important?

Mouthguards help you guard your teeth and gums to protect your smile and oral health during athletic activity. Contact sports and other physical activity can lead to various dental problems like tooth loss, tooth damage or soft tissue injuries to the gums and mouth.

Simply wearing a mouthguard while participating in physical activities significantly reduces the chance of mouth injury or the severity of it. You wear the dental guard over the teeth and gums, so they are protected if you get hit in the face by a ball, person or fall. It provides a simple, affordable method of preventive dentistry that promotes oral health while reducing the need for dental services to fix an injury.

We figure that it’s better to wear a guard than to deal with the pain and hassle of broken teeth, missing teeth and tissue damage. The guard can save you the time and money of dental work to repair or replace teeth, such as crowns, bridges or implants.

When Should I Wear an Athletic Mouthguard?

It’s smart to wear a dental guard during any sport or athletic activity that can result in facial injury. The best time to wear one is during contact sports, such as football, basketball or wrestling. Nonetheless, other activities could come with a higher-than-normal injury risk as well if they have the potential for falls or hits. Examples include tennis, horse riding, baseball, softball or cycling.

What’s the Difference Between Dentist and Over-the-Counter Mouthguards?

It’s easy to find an athletic mouthguard in sporting good stores or other stores. These pre formed, one-size-fits-all ones are ready to wear for quick protection. Stock mouth protectors cover the teeth and gums, and are better than not wearing a dental appliance at all.

Retail stores also sell a slightly better option in the form of boil and bite mouthguards. They offer a better fit by instructing you to use hot water to customize the piece to your teeth and bite.

Nonetheless, these retail types of mouthguards do not give the best fit possible to be fully effective. They can move around because they’re too big. Also, stock mouthguards tend to be bulky and uncomfortable, making breathing and talking difficult.

The best bet is a custom made mouth guard from your dentist. Our office is able to create a completely customized mouthguard that is more comfortable and fully fitted to the exact specifications of your mouth and teeth size, shape and position. We can also use our expertise to take into account your personal situation, such as whether you wear braces.

Get Your Custom Mouthguard

If you decide to choose a professionally fitted athletic guard instead of a retail one, our office has the tools and expertise to create one for you. We want you to enjoy sports without worrying about your teeth, as you keep them protected with a comfortable guard.

Contact our office to get started through a consultation appointment.