Not only in MMA, boxing or rugby do they use a mouth guard, baseball players, breaking dancers, mesotenists or soccer players too | Other Sports | Sports

A post from the account Red Corner MMA it should generate laughter or amazement because the description contains a funny phrase. It is actually a lesson in what bad things can happen to a mixed martial arts (MMA) athlete if he loses his mouth guard during combat. “What a mess” the public would react. “He put the mouth guard on him before hitting him,” wrote the commentator on ESPN gaston Tonga Reyno when spreading the video. The post on Twitter it has achieved significant reach: 547.9 thousand reproductions.

One of the simplest yet most important pieces of safety that an MMA athlete or any other contact sport needs is a good fighting mouth guard.

A mouth guard is cheap insurance that would save several visits to the dentist or maxillofacial dental surgeon depending on the severity of the case. In fact, the price of a mouthpiece is much less when compared to the amount of money a fighter might spend on extensive dental work.

Is it only required by contact sports athletes? Although the specialist Steven Cepeda is recognized among combatants and on the external facade of his office, Shockprot, the figures of Michael Morales, emiliano linares, Andres and Adrian Luna Martinetti, Aaron Canarte or the olympic wrestler Luisa ValverdeAre applied intraoral prevention device for training and competitions the breaking dancer Isis grandathe BMX freestyle rider Jonathan Camacho; mesotennis players, soccer players, basketball players, baseball players as well.

“Many people think that sports mouthguards are used only for contact sports and that is where sports dentistry differs, which consists of educating the athlete in the use of intraoral devices, because it is not only the blow that they receive, it is also relax the muscular part and take care of the posterior pieces of wear caused by dental clenching”, he tells EL UNIVERSO.

If it is a direct blow to the mouth, it can even cause a broken tooth, and if it is a well-placed blow to the jaw it could cause a fracture or further injury. Mouthguards are designed to absorb the impact of a blow and distribute the kinetic energy over a larger surface area.

This decreases the amount of force concentrated in a specific area, greatly reducing the severity of any injuries you may sustain. In addition, the outer coating of the mouth guard will prevent the upper and lower teeth from hitting each other, preventing fractures.

Cepeda, specialized in Brazil, explains that in the case of the breaking dancer Isis Granda, a strong mouth guard is made so that the teeth do not have wear caused by clenching and keep the muscles relaxed so that the athlete, in each clenching , which releases adrenaline, can be more focused and concentrated. “That way she will have a better balance,” he says.

“In breaking, when the athlete’s body is exhausted, he will feel that he tends to clench his teeth to release adrenaline, which is a natural process of the body. So, the way to prevent facial or crucial wear and reach temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD) is by using intraoral devices and maintaining dental care ”, he adds.

Cepeda explains that intraoral devices are made specifically for athletes customized to their molding (teeth) and height at the occlusion level they need. When it comes to soccer and basketball, they are low-impact sports; whether it is MMA, boxing, muay thai, rugby, they are high impact.

The process for getting a custom mouthguard consists of receiving a kit that contains everything needed to create the impression of the teeth.

The specialist then sends the mold to the manufacturer to build the custom mouthguard. Some dentists offer this service as well. This is the case of Steven Cepeda, who has the machines to manufacture and customize the intraoral prevention device and delivers it the same day the sample is taken.

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