Sport + Teeth: Custom Fit Mouthguards

Winners are grinners! For children and adult sport players, a custom-fitted mouthguard protect teeth from any serious injury.

Prevent broken jaws, knocked-out teeth, cut lips and tongues. A mouthguard is the barrier between a cricket ball or an elbow directly smashing your or your child’s teeth.

People are generally aware that contact sports such as  AFL, rugby and boxing require the use of a mouthguard to protect against trauma. However what people may not realize is that a large number of facial trauma injuries actually come from non-contact sports such as basketball, netball, hockey and soccer.  

Sporting injuries to teeth can cause major damage that are often difficult and expensive to treat. Custom-fitted mouthguards are a cost-effective and easy way to prevent this damage from ever occuring.

How Mouthguards Work

Mouthguards act like shock absorbers for your teeth. Just like how the suspension in your car or the insoles of your running shoes work to reduce the impact of the ground to your tyres or feet.

Custom-fitted mouthguards absorb and spread the impact of a hit to your jaw or teeth.

This is why in order to effectively work, mouthguards need to fit the exact contours of your mouth and teeth.

When a mouthguard isn’t custom made, it is too loose to provide adequate protection from collisions.

Our dentists at Whitehorse Dental can custom fit and manufacture a mouth guard specific to you. Enquire today.

Custom-fitted vs. over the counter mouthguards

We’re not huge fans of the over the counter, “boil and bite” option.

They are impossible to mould properly to the exact shape of your teeth. This results in large gaps between the mouthguard material and your own teeth.  If an impact was to happen, the mouth guard doesn’t absorb the force effectively resulting in injury to the teeth and skin of the mouth.

In worse cases, poorly fitted mouthguards can wedge in the back of your throat which can be a life threatening choking hazard.

Self-fitted mouthguards are also uncomfortable as they restrict your ability to talk and breathe properly. Kids often end up not wearing them…which defeats the purpose of having a mouthguard!

Wearing a custom-fitted mouthguard

As their names suggest, custom-fitted mouthguards stay in your mouth firmly to give you the ability to talk and breathe normally.

This lets you concentrate on playing the sport you love while effectively protecting your teeth from severe damage.

Caring for mouthguards

It’s simple:

• Rinse them with cold water after your game
• Keep them in the supplied plastic case between uses
• Don’t leave your mouthguard out in the sun
• Check for wear and tear by bringing them along to your next dental check up

Get a custom-fitted mouthguard

Whitehorse Dental can design and manufacture your custom-fitted mouthguard. Most importantly, you can also choose your own colour!

Prices start from $95 for children and adults and includes fitting. For those with health insurance, extras cover can often cover most of the mouthguard cost.

Custom-fitting a mouthguard is easy! Contact Whitehorse Dental in Blackburn to make an appointment today.