Featuring Dr. Jeffrey Norden, DDS
Dental Mouthguards in Hockey
Duration: 2 minutes, 15 seconds

In hockey, the sports mouthguard is an important piece of safety equipment.

Sports mouthguards come in three basic varieties. The first one is called a Type 1, which is the one that you go and get at your sports store. They are stock. They don't fit your teeth. You wear them over your teeth. They don't fit very well. These aren't very good; although, they're very cheap.

The second type of mouthguard, we call a Type 2, or the typical boil-and-bites. You also get this from your sports equipment store. Typically, you would take those, put them in a pot of boiling water, put them in your mouth, and suck on them to try to form them around your teeth.

The most important thing to know about either of these first two types of sports guards is that they're, essentially, ineffective. In most of the studies we've seen, these type of sports guards work only slightly better than no mouthguard at all, which brings me to the third type, and the most important, and the only type that really works well, is a custom-fitted sports mouthguard.

We call them a Type 3. These guards are made out of EVA material, which is an ethylene vinyl acetate. The main thing about these type of sports guards is they're made off an impression of your teeth, which is poured in a stone model.

We, then, laminate two or three layers of this EVA material onto the model to deliver you a custom-fitted, formed mouthguard with at least 3 millimeters of the EVA material to protect the most vulnerable areas.

The main advantages of the custom-fitted mouthguard is that, No. 1, it's gonna give you the best ability to breathe doing your sports activity. No. 2, it's also gonna allow you the best ability to speak during your sports activity. And, No. 3, it's gonna offer you the best comfort level.

If you're interested in a custom-fitted sports mouthguard, please, contact your dentist.

Presenter: Dr. Jeffrey Norden, General Dentist, Vancouver, BC

Local Practitioners: General Dentist