Lady holding a Mouthguard

Mouthguards can help provide you with the necessary protection for your teeth when you play sports. To learn more about mouth guards, or to set up an appointment with us here at El Paso Modern Dentistry for a fitting for a custom mouthguard, please give us a call at (915) 221-7001  today!

When you think of sports and sporting equivalent, you probably immediately think of helmets, shoulder pads, and knee braces. These protective devices all serve an important purpose for athletes when performing their sport, and most people will agree that they are essential for the health and wellbeing of the person using them.

However, many people tend to overlook mouthguards as a vital piece of sporting equipment, despite how critical they are to help protect the athlete. Not only can a custom sports mouth guard prevent tooth loss, but it can also prevent severe lacerations inside the mouth and even concussions.  At El Paso Modern Dentistry, we firmly believe that all athletes can benefit from the protection of a custom mouthguard, no matter what their sport is.

Happy couple

WHY WE RECOMMEND A CUSTOM MOUTHGUARD

Many of our patients mistakenly believe that a mouthguard is only necessary for contact sports like football. That could not be further from the truth. Any sport that includes the risk that you may receive an impact to the face or head – whether it’s from a piece of equipment, a teammate or opponent, or even a fall – can benefit from a mouthguard. Even solo sports like skating and gymnastics require mouthguards to help prevent any injuries from harming your mouth.

There are three types of mouthguards that you may encounter when looking to be fitted with one. The first kind you may find is a basic stock mouthguard. We strongly advise against these. They have a generic shape to them, which means they may not fit properly and not protect you. Furthermore, they can also make it harder to breathe while playing sports, impairing your ability to play. While they are cheap, you get what you pay for with one of these.

Another type of mouthguard that you may encounter at a big box or sporting goods store is a boil and bite mouthguard. This type of mouth guard has you boil it first, then bite it while it is still soft. This does offer a small amount of personalization, but it can still be unwieldy and poorly fitting. While this is an improvement over a stock mouthguard, it still is not adequate to properly protect you while playing sports.

GETTING YOUR CUSTOM MOUTH GUARD

Instead of reaching for a stock mouthguard or a boil and bite mouthguard, we strongly recommend that you come in for a fitting for a custom mouthguard. A custom mouthguard will give you a secure fit, and superior protection from cuts, abrasions, lost teeth, and concussions while playing sports. To get a custom mouthguard, we will start by taking an impression of your mouth. This impression will be sent to our laboratory, to create your mouthguard. Once it returns from our lab, we will have you come in for final fitting to ensure that  the mouth guard is both secure and comfortable in your mouth.