One essential piece of sporting equipment is often neglected: mouthguards. London, Ontario, sports lovers, whether adults or children, should consider mouthguards as a critical part of uniform. This is true whether you are playing a contact or non-contact sport.

What Do Mouthguards Do?

A mouthguard protects your teeth, tongue, lips, and cheeks from injuries that could send you to the emergency room. If something like a ball, puck, or elbow makes impact with your face, you could suffer from cuts or bleeding. A hard strike to the face or a fall could even knock out, break, or chip a tooth. A mouthguard prevents all these types of injuries. It also redistributes the force of an impact, making an injury like a concussion less serious.

What Sports Require Mouthguards?

For sports like baseball, hockey, football, basketball, and lacrosse, a mouthguard is essential. These sports put you at especially high risk for losing or damaging a tooth. In addition, you should use a mouthguard for activities like skateboarding, climbing, and mountain climbing.

What Types of Mouthguards Are Best?

There are three main types of mouthguards: preformed, boil-and-bite, and custom. Preformed and boil-and-bite are both available over the counter from pharmacies and sporting goods stores. The first are one-size-fits-all. They tend to be uncomfortable and offer minimal protection. The second are a little better, although they are still quite uncomfortable.

By far the best option is a custom mouthguard from your dentist. These are made by taking an impression of your mouth for an exact fit. They are also ideal for wearing with braces, as they can be designed to prevent brackets making contact with soft tissue.

Schedule an appointment with your dentist in London to receive a custom-fit mouthguard. You’ll never need to worry about suffering from a mouth-related injury when playing sports again.

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