Mouth Guard

[Orianna2000]

A few months back, I broke a tooth and had to get an implant to replace it. I was worried about skating while the implant heals, because I'd heard that any trauma to the jaw (such as falling and hitting my face) could cause the implant to fail, so I asked the dentist about it and she suggested that I wear a mouth guard. In fact, she said that I should always wear a mouth guard while skating, because any fall could potentially break a tooth.

I know that mouth guards are common for hockey players, but do figure skaters ever wear them? Is this like head protection, where it's a necessary evil that no one tolerates?

I've had enough trouble with my teeth that I'm willing to consider the idea of always wearing a mouth guard while skating, so long as it's subtle. But I haven't the foggiest idea which kind to get. I've seen "single" and "double" guards, ones that claim you can still breathe and talk while wearing them (shouldn't BREATHING be a natural priority??), ones that claim they're for women, and so forth. I do worry that a man's mouth guard would be too large for me, since I'm a petite woman. But surely a "youth" version would be too small. But the only "female" versions I can find are bright blue--not exactly subtle. I'd rather one that's transparent, so that the skaters across the rink can't tell I'm wearing it and make fun of me. Any suggestions?

I'm also concerned about how this will work with my lessons. Can you actually talk with a mouth guard in? I don't want to have to remove it every time I have a question for my coach. Not only would that be bothersome and annoying, but it would attract attention and I'd just as soon the entire rink not know that I'm wearing a mouth guard. (Because I do get the impression that it's like the helmets and is something that's likely to get me laughed off the ice. Am I wrong?)

Suggestions, recommendations, or thoughts on this subject are welcome!

[jjane45]

What types of mouth guards are out there other than the hockey ones? A big scarf would not be really strange on ice to make it more discreet.

[Isk8NYC]

I think it's overkill, to be honest.  They're cheap though, so buy one and try it out.  Let us know how you make out.  I've never seen clear ones for hockey or soccer. I would think they are brightly colored so you can find them if they fall out.  My DDs had clear guards for softball though, so check a sporting goods store instead of the rink pro shop.  IIRC, they were kind of bulky in the mouth so they're not too discreet when your lips are bulging.

I have honestly NEVER seen a figure skater wear a mouth guard and yes, I think it will be cumbersome during lessons if you need to communicate.  I think it also makes your mouth water, which is why hockey players spit all over the place.  Their guards attach to their face cages, so they can take it in and out easily without worrying about it hitting the spit-laden ice or floor of the rink.

However, I do think that it would be a good way to practice skating programs without the inevitable pant/gasp/open mouth that so many skaters use.  I've seen A LOT of programs with those grimaces and tongue-lolling images.  It overrides their skating ability.

[jjane45]

I skate with my mouth open! one group coach commented on my habit to bite the lips, it's because I don't like the cold air getting into my mouth...

Is it possible to cushion the jaw somewhat with an altered big scarf or something not as bulky? Some layer is better than no later. Still I'd think it's difficult because the jaw is likely lifted when hit.

[Sushi]

You can get custom mouth guards from the dentist. They are similar to the clear retainers or the clear braces invisalign but a little bit thicker. I see kits being sold on ebay like this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/CLEAR-CUSTOM-PROFESSIONAL-SPORTS-MOUTHGUARD-MOUTH-GUARD-/320497373950?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4a9f21d2fe You might talk with a lisp until you get used to it.

[Isk8NYC]

Okay, I'll say it since we all ignored it, hoping it would just go away. 

The "big scarf" idea isn't a good solution.  It won't offer much protection for your jaw.  When you fall, you should TUCK your chin and TURN your head.  The scarf will interefere with that motion, leaving you more vulnerable.  It will affect your skating balance and loose scarves are a danger on the ice. 

There you go, jjane.  That's my answer to the Big Scarf Idea.

If fear of falling is that great that you want to bubble-wrap your skater entirely, maybe skating isn't a great sport in the first place.

[Isk8NYC]

You can get custom mouth guards from the dentist. They are similar to the clear retainers or the clear braces invisalign but a little bit thicker. I see kits being sold on ebay like this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/CLEAR-CUSTOM-PROFESSIONAL-SPORTS-MOUTHGUARD-MOUTH-GUARD-/320497373950?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4a9f21d2fe You might talk with a lisp until you get used to it.

I've never seen those before - usually mouthguards have sections for the upper and lower teeth, but my DD's softball ones were heat-molded to her bite as well.  I think that's the standard process. 

The linked item is for light-contact sports, I would consider skating to be that type of sport.  $50 isn't bad if you have to protect dental work; I wonder how much a dentist charges for that?  Hmmm... 

I mis-read the eBay line that reads: "created in our own in house full time laboratory with a technician" as "created in our own house full time."  Obviously an error on my part, lol.

[Sushi]

Dentist do charge a lot of money. If you lose/break a orthodontic retainer or need night mouth guard that's a couple of 100$. The dentist tried to get my mom to make night guards for 500$ but insurance didn't cover it.

[Orianna2000]

To be honest, the kind where you have to make an impression and mail it in makes me a bit nervous. I've had braces and crowns and I don't do well with impressions. They tend to make me gag (literally). Not sure how I'd do with one of those. Plus, they're $50, as opposed to $5 or $10 for a boil-fit guard. But if you can talk while wearing them and they don't make your lips protrude, it might be worth it. Looks like they only cover your top teeth, though. Is there any protection for your bottom teeth?

In any case, for the impressions, I would have to wait until I get the crown put on my implant, which won't be until February. Otherwise it wouldn't fit once I get the crown. Meanwhile, I guess I'll try a cheap guard and see how it works.

Basically, I'm doing this to protect the $2,000 dental implant. If it wasn't for that, I probably wouldn't even consider using a mouth guard. But when you're paying thousands of dollars for dental work, you don't want to see it flushed down the toilet because you hit a rut in the ice!

[Live2Sk8]

I understand!  When my coach first wanted me to try a camel spin, my initial thought was - what if I fall on my face and knock out my teeth (which have also had some expensive dental work).  I don't know any figure skater who has fallen such that they hit their teeth, though.  Split chins, yes.  Cheekbones, yes.  Teeth?  No.

When my dentist found out I am a figure skater, the first words out of his mouth were 'Do you wear a mouth guard?' 

[jjane45]

There you go, jjane.  That's my answer to the Big Scarf Idea.

If fear of falling is that great that you want to bubble-wrap your skater entirely, maybe skating isn't a great sport in the first place.

Would wearing a scarf in general be discouraged then? During winter days I sometimes do skate with a fleece scarf wrapped twice around my neck, and never thought it may be dangerous. Thanks for pointing it out!

If there is a bubble wrap suit available equipped to the teeth I'll get it

[FigureSpins]

I could see coaches or judges wearing scarves but not a skater.  Just wear a (mock) turtleneck; it's more effective at keeping your neck warm.

[AgnesNitt]

I can understand your concern. But realistically, you're going to break that implant when you trip over a curb when you're unloading the car. You spend a lot more time off-ice, and you're comfortable with that. That's what will get you. A trip or fall off ice and bang! there goes your tooth.

I have to say, I have never heard of someone at a low level of skating breaking a tooth. I think I've heard of it in synchro, but honestly, I'm a little less worried about a tooth than your wrists.

Let's say you fall forward. That's the only position you can hit your jaw to the ice. Your reflexes will put your hands out to brace the fall.

I don't play hockey, but my bet is that hockey players wear a mouth guard because a. It's a contact sport, and b. There's sticks and that stupid puck involved. c. Plus being slammed into the boards and your helmet pops off, d. Plus enforcers do take off each others helmets before they start fisticuffs.

You're not going to do any of that.

I doubt your dentist has ever skated, and only thinks of skating in terms of hockey.

And by the way, I took a full face forward fall off a horse going over a jump and lost my helmet. The fall was so hard that the the dirt was driven through 3 layers of clothing, I hit my head hard enough to knock me out, and I had to go to the emergency room because I had an episode of short term memory loss (about a minute).

I DID NOT break a tooth.

If you want to work on risk mitigation, you might consider improving your edges and basic skills before going to jumps as more productive than a mouth guard.

[hopskipjump]

My daughter hit her teeth on the ice.  The top two.  There was a little blood but it was fine.  If you hit your teeth, it will the the top front teeth.  I think she was doing a death drop and landed on the ice somehow in a belly flop.  So her stomach hit first and then her head banged down.  It sounded horrific!  But she got back up, drank some water, I checked out her teeth for damage and she went back out.

[jjane45]

Actually, before I saw images of mouth guards for sports, I was thinking something that protects the jaw / chin from outside. Does anything like this exist outside of the hockey ones?

[Orianna2000]

I've never heard of an external jaw protector, unless you mean a helmet? My husband wears a helmet with a cage front, which theoretically protects his face/jaw from impact. He's stopped wearing his mouth guard because he says the helmet will protect his jaw, so the mouth guard is redundant. It's not comfortable when exerting yourself vigorously, apparently, so he'd rather depend on the helmet to protect him. I'm not convinced, but he swears all the professional hockey players with missing teeth are ones who didn't wear helmets with cages. He also has a neck guard, but it doesn't fit him well and so he doesn't wear it. I keep urging him to buy one that does fit, because I've heard horror stories of hockey players catching a blade to the neck and bleeding to death on the ice.

Anyway, as Agnes pointed out, I am a low-level skater. I will never advance to jumps, because my balance is not good (on or off-ice) and it frankly wouldn't be safe for me. I'm mostly afraid of hitting a rut in the ice, or catching a toe pick and going down. If I hit my cheekbone, there's the chance it could cause the implant to fail, since it's in my upper jaw. Not sure if a mouth guard would prevent that or not, now that I think about it.

I will probably order a $5 mouth guard just to try it out and see if I can tolerate it. If it's too bulky and I can't communicate while wearing it, then I'll probably just take the risk and skate without it.

[sampaguita]

Mouth guards are commonly used by boxers. Maybe you can find a specialty store for boxing and find a mouth guard there that fits your needs. I think there are transparent mouth guards available.

[Sk8tmum]

Shock Doctor makes an excellent line of mouth guards; they come in a variety of colours, sizes and styles.  They also warrant "teeth" i.e. if they break, you have insurance coverage.

That said, you can't talk with them in clearly, you will mumble a bit. They do not interfere with breathing - wouldn't be able to play sports with them in otherwise!

If a mouthguard is small enough to be that inconspicuous, it wouldn't likely be useful.  There has to be a certain amount of structure there to make it effective.

Frankly, if anyone gave you any hassles, and I don't see why they would, gently explain that you have expensive dental work and your dentist would prefer you to protect it.  Yes, I have seen skaters knock out teeth, and I do know a few that have cracked them - but generally, it's only freak accidents OR beginning skaters who are still learning how to fall properly.  If it makes you feel safe, then, go for it!

(BTW: I have a front incisor implant too.  I was told to be very very careful, as if it took a hit, having the metal imbedded in the jaw meant that it would be far far worse than the normal damage done to a blow to the teeth due to the structure of the implant).

[Orianna2000]

The dentist didn't say anything about the damage possibly being worse because of the implant. That's good to know. And a bit intimidating, to be frank. Now I'm leaning more toward the custom guard that costs $50. It's smaller and sleeker, looks like you can talk easier with it in, and it's definitely more subtle. But I'll have to wait until I get the crown put on the implant, otherwise the custom guard won't fit later. It'll be a few months till that happens. Not sure what to do, meanwhile. Either use the thick, cheap mouth guard, or do nothing and take the risk. Hmm.

[Dreaswi]

before you buy anything READ the package.. every one i have ever looked at (boil at home) or anything that you need to make an "impression" will say DO NOT use if you have any crowns or impants.. the reason for this is the suction that is created when you remove the impression can pull out implants and crowns.. i learned the hard 700.00 way. plus it hurt like hell when the crown popped off and the bare tooth was exposed.

my personal opinion is if you are that worried about protecting yourself find another sport. i am currently recovering from a shattered ankle from catching a rut in the ice.. i have had 2 surgeries with still 1 more to go before i can skate again. this is the 2nd bone break in 14 months.. i totally understand about the expense of medical/dental bills from skating but you can only protect yourself so much.

[Skate@Delaware]

There are two sides to this discussion.
Pro-had I been wearing a guard when I fell (forward, chocked my chin on the ice) I would not have had such a serious concussion. I was lucky to only crack one tooth.

Con-they are ugly, bulky, make your mouth water uncontrollably.  However, I think when I start working on some higher level jumps, I'll get one, just to protect my teeth from impact during falls.

If your balance is bad to where you fall more than the average skater, you might want to invest the $$ instead on balance and core training. That alone will decrease the number of falls if they are due to imbalance or poor core.  I also agree that you should spend more time on edges and footwork and make sure those are solid. Poor skills account for many tumbles on the ice.

[Skittl1321]

Is this like head protection, where it's a necessary evil that no one tolerates?

I don't think a mouth guard can be compared to a helmet.  I think it make a lot of sense to push for figure skaters to wear helmets.  It is sad that the sport seems to discourage wearing a helmet, except at the very lowest (snowplow) levels.

On the other side, except in very special cases, it makes very little sense for a figure skater to wear a mouth guard.  A large number of injuries in skating could be prevented with a helmet, very few would be prevented with a mouth guard.  To me, it is just too rare to take a precaution against- there is some risk in every sport, you can't wrap yourself in bubble wrap, if you want to do that- you just can't participate. Sports are risky, it is their nature.

I asked my husband about mouth guards (I've never worn them) and he said the problem with them is they make it very difficult to breathe.  The sports that wear them  generally have quick action, and then a break- and you often see the players spitting them out as soon as they can.  He said as a wrestler some people wore them, but he chose not too because of the inability to breathe, wrestling, like a figure skating long program, is constant action.  You don't get the chance to remove it, swallow all the excess spit, take a deep breath and start again.

Because I read this thread last night, but hadn't replied yet, I watched for mouth guards at the hockey game I went to last night.  I only saw visibly about 5 players who were wearing them.  I imagine a few more had them in, but it looked like the vast majority did not.  I actually looked today at the rules (wondering if I missed them) and they are NOT required as a piece of equipment for professionals. (Kids and college do require them.)  This is a CONTACT sport (where I think it is kind of crazy not to wear them...)  Again though, it wasn't constant action- the game moved continually, but they shuffled people in and out at an amazing rate, and the guys wearing the guards spit them out as soon as they were near the wall.

Figure skating is NOT a contact sport.  Yes, there are some falls a mouth guard would have helped, but those falls are rare.  I can understand an individual choosing to wear one, but unlike helmets, I don't think this is something that figure skating needs a big push to accept. 

For someone with a special risk, like your implant, I could see it for a short period of time- but even still, I'm not sure the cost is worth the small chance of protection.

[Orianna2000]

These are all good points.

Actually, I was thinking . . . right now, I don't have a crown on the implant. There's nothing there that a mouth guard would protect. Unless they protect your gums, which I'm kind of doubting. The risk is of the gum around the implant getting traumatized, forcing the bone to stop fusing with the implant, thereby causing the implant to fail. This could happen if I fell and hit the side of my face. But I don't think a mouth guard would protect against that.

Once I get the crown, I'll discuss with the dentist about whether it's safe to get fitted for a custom mouth guard, one that would be subtle, fit well, and not interfere with breathing or talking. If the impressions might pull my other crowns off, then I'll have to pass and just take my risks.

As far as strengthening my core, I'm all for that. I don't know that there's anything to be done about my balance though. It's related to an inner ear disorder, like vertigo. Not sure if there's any exercises that can fix that problem. (Please correct me if I'm wrong!)

Regarding hockey and mouth guards, my husband says his cage helmet protects his mouth and jaw well enough that a mouth guard is redundant. I don't quite believe him, but it's his teeth. I can't force him to wear a mouth guard when he plays hockey. All I can do is hope that he doesn't get injured in a way that breaks a tooth.

[Skittl1321]

Regarding hockey and mouth guards, my husband says his cage helmet protects his mouth and jaw well enough that a mouth guard is redundant. I don't quite believe him, but it's his teeth. I can't force him to wear a mouth guard when he plays hockey. All I can do is hope that he doesn't get injured in a way that breaks a tooth.

The helmets came off as soon as they started punching each other.  I had never been to a hockey game before, and most of it seemed to be play fighting (just puching into the padded areas) but one guy left the ice with blood pouring from his face- couldn't tell if it was his nose or his mouth though (he wasn't closing his mouth, which made me think it was what was bleeding, but if his nose was bleeding, he was likely trying to breathe though his mouth).  Like in boxing, if it was his mouth, a guard would have helped.  Only one guy (plus goalies) on the ice wore a cage helmet, the rest just had visors over their eyes.


Like with most adult figure skating, if it makes you feel comfortable, wear it.  But before investing in it, definetly talk to a dentist to see if it will do anything.  I DO think there is some gum protection offered, if that is what you are worried about.

[Dreaswi]

a full face cage on a helmet will protect the mouth