Health & beauty
Sports mouthguards
Types and fitting
Mouthguards prevent dental injuries from sport.
We look at the different types of mouthguards available, and how to fit a boil-and-bite mouthguard.
Types of mouthguards
There are lots of different brands, but they fall into two categories: custom-fitted mouthguards (available from a dentist), and boil-and-bite mouthguards (available from sports stores, pharmacies and department stores).
Custom-fitted
With custom-fitted mouthguards a dentist takes an impression of your teeth and makes a guard to fit. The main advantage of custom fitting is that it allows the dentist to assess your mouth before the guard is made and the dentist can accurately achieve the optimum dimensions, coverage and thickness of the guard. The dentist can also take a history of previous injuries and assess the type of mouthguard appropriate for your sport.
Top of the range and most expensive are the pressure-laminated mouthguards favoured by elite players. Several layers of material are fused together at a high temperature, to give the closest fit and extra thickness over vulnerable areas.
The New Zealand Dental Association, like most of its overseas counterparts, recommends for the best protection and fit that children and adults should use custom-fitted mouthguards.
Boil-and-Bite
Boil-and-bites are softened in hot water, inserted and allowed to adapt to the shape of your mouth as they cool and set.
Boil-and-bites are generally made in three standard sizes - junior, youth and adult. But as everyone has a different set of teeth there won't be a mouthguard that can be easily adapted to fit all mouth shapes.
Very little independent research has been done into whether custom-fitted mouthguards offer more-effective protection than boil-and-bites. One of the few studies that compared them found no difference in dental injuries between players wearing custom-fitted or boil-and-bite mouthguards - although the sample was fairly small. So we've been unable to give a clear recommendation on which type is best.
In the end, your choice may well be based on cost and how important a good fit is.
Looking after your mouthguard
Wash it after each use with soap and warm (not hot) water. Keep it in the container provided, which should have ventilation holes to keep the guard dry.
Don't wear or handle someone else's mouthguard.
Fitting a boil-and-bite mouthguard
If you buy a boil-and-bite you don't need to buy the most expensive one.
It's very important you follow the instructions carefully when you're moulding your mouthguard. A common problem is not heating it enough and you end up with a mouthguard that doesn't fit properly. This will make it uncomfortable and difficult to breathe and speak. Buy a new one every year.
Buy the mouthguard that seems likely to offer the best fit. Read the instructions and make sure you understand the whole fitting process before you start - if you make a mistake, the mouthguard could be ruined.
Our 5 step guide shows the fitting process.
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1. Test
Test the guard in the mouth. It should fit snugly in front and behind the top teeth.
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2. Trim
If necessary, trim the ends. You don't want it sitting uncomfortably over the gums at the back of the jaw, but make sure it covers all the teeth. If you are doing this with a child, make sure they understand what the guard will feel like when it's soft, so they don't bite in the wrong place.
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3. Immerse
Immerse the guard in boiling water for the specified time. This will usually be no more than ten seconds. Don't leave it in too long or it may lose its shape altogether.
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4. Bite
Carefully fit the softened guard over the teeth and bite gently. Use both hands to make sure it fits properly up around the teeth.
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5. Suck
While it's still quite soft, suck hard. It's sucking, rather than hard biting, that gives a good moulded fit.
- You may need to do some final trimming of the ends, but leave that till last. The final result should be firm and well-shaped, thick across the front, and with teeth markings along the inside at the base.
- If the guard is flattened or bitten through, you'll have to buy another one. If it's loose, start again. A ruined guard is unlikely to stay in place and will offer little protection.