The Benefits of a Boxing Mouth Guard for Dental Injuries

Contents hide

2 The Benefits Of Wearing A Mouth Guard When Boxing

3 The Importance Of A Custom Fitted Mouth Guard When Boxing

If the goal of winning a boxing match is to beat your opponent by knock-out, it’s essential that every boxer wears a mouth guard during practise sessions and during matches. Wearing a boxing mouth guard can protect you against serious dental injury. Let’s take a look at the benefits of mouthguards in boxing and why you should be wearing one.

What Is A Boxing Mouth Guard

A mouthguard is a thick but flexible shield that is worn over your teeth. You can get mouth guards for the upper and lower jaws, and the goal is to stop the jaws from being forced together by impact or to absorb any impact that may be directed at the mouth and teeth.

Serious injuries can be sustained during boxing, Muay Thai and mixed martial arts fighting (mma), and wearing a mouthguard that fits well can offer a high level of protection.

The Benefits Of Wearing A Mouth Guard When Boxing

A boxing mouth guard offers a number of separate but essential benefits:

It absorbs and cushions the shock generated between the upper and lower jaws
Mouth guards protect you against cuts and lacerations on your lips and cheeks
It protects your teeth from being chipped, broken or knocked out
It protects you against injury to your tongue
It reduces your risk of facial fractures or a broken jaw
Mouth guards reduce your risk of suffering concussions

The Australian Dental Association says that a third of dental injuries are related to sports, while Sports Medicine Australia says that as many as 50% of children sustain dental injuries. The Better Health Channel reports that as much as 14% of dental injuries are sustained while playing sports like boxing, cricket, netball, basketball, hockey and soccer. A lot of these injuries can be avoided by wearing a mouthguard.

The Importance Of A Custom Fitted Mouth Guard When Boxing

Mouth guards are readily available at sports shops, but these are sized generically and are not made to fit the contours of your mouth. You have the greatest level of protection when you wear a mouth guard that has been customised for your mouth and teeth.

Wearing a customised mouthguard means you have a superior fit so it can’t move around. That means it does a better job at protecting you against injury. Mouthguards must always be worn in boxing but they are even more important if you

Wear orthodontic braces
Have protruding front teeth

Choosing A Mouthguard

In order to be effective a mouthguard must fit snugly and not move around; that’s why it’s best to have it custom-fitted by your dentist. Boxing mouth guards should not impede your speech or your ability to breathe. They should be at least 4mm thick to be able to offer adequate protection. Good mouth guards are odourless and tasteless. They should be cleaned after every use and stored in a well-ventilated environment.

For assistance with a boxing mouth guard that is custom-fitted, or to find out more about how you can protect yourself against dental injuries when boxing please contact us for an appointment:

Buderim: (07) 5317 1023

Caloundra: (07) 5315 8076