Why do football players wear mouthguards? Because a Mouthguard is a shock absorber that protects teeth, lips, tongue area, jaw, skull, and gums during a game when players crash into each other. It reduces injury by absorbing hits and shocks.
Reasons to wear Mouthguards:
Mouthguards protect the teeth and gums
One of the many benefits of wearing a mouthguard is that it protects your teeth and gums from getting damaged or knocked out. While this impact on the face may not be fatal, it can lead to other serious complications like infections, excessive bleeding, and permanent damage to your teeth.
The mouthguard acts as a barrier against these injuries by covering both rows of teeth and shielding the soft tissues of your gums from any potential trauma. At best, you avoid a trip to the dentist; at worst, you’re looking at more invasive surgeries to fix what could have been a minor problem if preventive measures had been taken.
Mouthguards also reduce the chance of getting concussions in American football players by limiting how much shock reaches their brains when they’re hit on the field.
By absorbing some of this force through their mouthguard, players can minimize the likelihood that their head will experience whiplash or similar neck problems caused by violent motion during gameplay—especially when they’re tackled or fall onto their hands while running with the ball.
This benefit is especially notable given recent findings showing just how often athletes suffer concussions during sports activities (including football).
Furthermore, mouthguards can protect athletes from internal injuries inside their mouths such as lacerations on lips/cheeks or tongue abrasions caused by contact with sharp surfaces like grass blades which can lead up to gumlines where damage occurs most often without protection devices being used properly!
Beyond just protecting external parts like teeth — these pieces also shield internal ones too!
It protects against concussion-causing impacts on the jaw.
For football players, mouthguards are a must-have piece of protective equipment. They’re designed to absorb the shock of an impact to the jaw so that your brain doesn’t take the brunt of it. Here’s how it works:
- The mouthguard absorbs some of the force from a blow to the jaw, which could otherwise transmit that force to your skull.
- Your head is less likely to snap back as a result of this impact, and less likely to collide with other hard surfaces such as the ground or another player’s helmet. If you have braces or several missing teeth, mouthguards help prevent damage in those areas too.
It prevents internal injuries to the lips, cheeks, and tongue.
The most common types of injuries to the lips, cheeks, and tongue are internal injuries. These can be caused by blows to the mouth during tackles or falls onto your face. These internal injuries can often be prevented if you wear a mouthguard when playing football.
Although these types of injuries are more common in certain positions, such as lineman, they can happen to players of every position on the field.
Whatever position you play, it’s important to protect yourself from this type of injury by investing in a mouthguard that fits perfectly with your upper jaw and teeth. This is especially true for younger players who may not have all their adult teeth yet and therefore do not have a stable biting surface for their mouthguard to attach to.
Sometimes even benchwarmers should wear mouthguards.
What’s more, although a benchwarmer might be satisfied with the fact that he doesn’t need to wear a mouthguard, the problem is that he could be called upon at short notice. If he does go on to play and doesn’t have a mouthguard handy, then it might not be possible for him to take part in the game.
So even if you’re this player who sits on the bench for most of the game, it’s still worth taking precautions. Having a custom-made mouthguard will save you from having to spend money on dental work further down the line, and it’ll also mean that you can play when necessary without being held back by your ill-fitting gumshield!
When it comes to protecting the mouth, custom trumps over-the-counter.
Players protect themselves with mouthguards
I can’t imagine being a professional football player, but I’ll take your word for it that the physicality of the sport is rough. I know that the players are trained from a young age to be as tough and conditioned as possible, but that’s probably why their awareness is so heightened.
So when two players collide and it feels like they’re about to break bones, they’re ready for it. But if you go back and watch every game played in this country in the last five years, you might see something interesting: there are still plenty of knockouts on each team.
Usually, these moments come at a time when nobody is expecting them. Someone makes an aggressive tackle or throw, there’s some incidental contact with another player who was coming from the opposite direction…these things happen all the time in football games.
As we’ve seen throughout history, however, you never know where those hard hits will come from (or even if they will), so protecting yourself with a mouthguard just makes sense.
So why don’t football players wear mouthguards?
In most sports, it’s the nature of the sport that puts players at risk for lower-molar injuries. Football is no exception, and those who play football are more likely to sustain a lower-molar injury than baseball players or basketball players, according to data from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association.
The reality is that over-the-counter mouthguards can be a gamble. You might end up with one that’s uncomfortable or doesn’t fit correctly. If you’re an active player or even just an athlete in general, then your mouth is going to readjust to the guard anyway, which could lead to problems with bacterial growth and irritation around your teeth and gums. Not exactly what you want when you’re on the field.
Do all football players wear mouthguards?
Yes, all football players should wear mouthguards. This is because mouthguards help prevent injuries to the jaw, teeth, lips, tongue, and other parts of the mouth.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) requires that all student-athletes wear a mouthguard during games and practices in every sport where contact is present.
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) also requires that high school athletes participating in sports like football and ice hockey wear a mouthguard for protection against tooth loss, chipped or broken teeth, and concussion.
One important note: if you have braces on your teeth, do not wear a standard mouthguard over the braces! Instead, you can use what’s called a “boil and bite” guard—a soft rubbery plastic that you mold to your own teeth using hot water or steam.
Some people try to modify their standard plastic guards by cutting out an area for their brace brackets so they can still bite down on them without cutting their lips or gums.
This is not recommended since it will leave part of your brace exposed and increase the risk of injury to your gums or lips instead of protecting them from harm. It’s also possible to create custom-made guards that are designed with braces in mind; consult with your orthodontist about this option if it interests you.
Do pro football players wear mouthguards?
Yes, they do. Mouthguards are part of the standard safety equipment that every player must wear. This includes other protective gear like helmets and shoulder pads, which are important because they prevent injury to vital parts of the body like the head and neck.
Not only players. Other people who participate in football games, such as coaches and trainers, should also wear mouthguards. If a coach or trainer wears one, it can set an example for players to wear theirs and encourage them to take their health seriously during games.
The rules of wearing mouthguards. Players must wear these during practices and games unless otherwise stated by the coach or manager before a game begins. Coaches must give all players consistent reminders to continue wearing mouthguards throughout each practice or game so that they don’t accidentally forget them at any point while participating in football activities.
Now that you know all about why football players need to wear mouthguards, let’s talk about some different types you might find!
Is it popular?
Because mouthguards are effective in protecting teeth, popular players such as LeBron James and Tom Brady wear them. Moreover, an NHIS study found that 51% of football players used a mouthguard.