Why do athletes use mouth guards?

I’m Gregory Volitich, sports trainer. Over the past few months, I’ve had the opportunity to go around the community and watch official sporting tournaments, both in and outside of schools.

Image source: foxsports.com

There was one thing in particular that I was pleasantly surprised by – most of the high school and younger kids playing sports had complete safety gear on during games. It’s also a load of my mind since I’ve been advocating safety in my community sports programs for the past few years.

However, there’s one piece of safety equipment that many of the kids don’t use, yet – the mouth guard. I believe that coaches and school trainers need to get their young athletes used to having mouth guards so the kids can develop the habit while they’re young.

Image source: digitaltrends.com 

Mouth guards, though common in boxing and MMA, are also used in basketball, football, and other contact sports. Recent studies have also shown that a huge number of sports injuries that happen to children happen to their faces and mouths. Mouth guards are a great way of ensuring safety not just of the teeth, but inner mouth as well.

There are many mouth guards in the market for children, with some even custom-made. Parents can bring their kids in shops and have them fit mouth guards and choose the most comfortable one.
And just like good ol’ Gregory Volitich says -- it’s always best to get children into the habit of safety early on.

Gregory Volitich is a student at University of Florida and an aspiring personal trainer. He is currently working on a degree in Applied Physiology and Kinesiology. For more updates from Gregory, visit this blog.