Mouth Guards

[Shotokan-kez]

Hi guys. I'm hoping to enter a tournament in september and obviously i will need to purchase a mouth guard. My problem is this, i have large prominent front teeth which unfortunatly stick out farther than the normal persons teeth. Do mouth guards come as a standard size and would i have to have one specially made? Also if i did have to have one specially made how do i go about doing this? Cheers guys.

Kez x

[danbong]

Most of them are made of a special plastic that softens when heated. When you first get them you put them in very hot water and them into your mouth. When they cool down they harden and are fitted to your teeth.

[DWx]

I had my current one made by my dentist. Costs a lot more than the thermoset ones you can buy but I definately feel the difference. Its a lot thicker and because it really is an exact mould of my teeth, I don't feel like its going to slip off all the time. I also had problems with the ones that you heat up. Couldn't get the damn things to set exactly around my teeth.

If you can't get a specially made one off of your dentist, the Shockdoctor ones are supposed to be quite good:

http://shockdoctor.com/mouthguards.html

[gzk]

I have one of those "boil and bite" mouthguards but I don't use it. It simply wouldn't mould properly and makes me gag, too. Your dentist should be able to make you a mouthguard, and it will be more suitable if you tell them what it's for.

[danbong]

I originally had a cheap single mouthguard and it was very difficult to mold, but I eventually got it to fit. When I switched to a top of the line double muothguard http://www.martialartssupermarket.com/index.cfm?action=moreinfo&itemid=9776 it was much easier to mold and fits with way better - and it offers much more protection to boot.

[IcemanSK]

I'd recommend a Shock Doctor or Brain Pad mouth piece. It's worth spending more than less. If you can afford a dentist made one, I'd encourage you to do so. They are worth every penny!

[lordtariel]

I also had problems with the ones that you heat up. Couldn't get the damn things to set exactly around my teeth.

Hehe, my first one was so badly mangled, it looked like a piece of badly melted plastic.

[pegasi]

One thing I had that resulted in the "gag" problem was that the mouthpiece was too long for my mouth. I cut off about 1/2 in at the back, and then it was fine.

To get the heat 'n' mold ones to really fit tight, I found that if you suck in as hard as you can, to pull all the air out of your mouth as hard as you can, then the plastic pulls in around the teeth better. Holding it like that for a minute is a pain, but results in a better fitting mouthpiece. If you don't suck in and hold it until the mouthpiece cools, it just doesn't fit as tightly, in my experience. Pressing your tongue against the inside of the mouthpiece, forcing it harder against your teeth at the same time will also help.

[DWx]

To get the heat 'n' mold ones to really fit tight, I found that if you suck in as hard as you can, to pull all the air out of your mouth as hard as you can, then the plastic pulls in around the teeth better. Holding it like that for a minute is a pain, but results in a better fitting mouthpiece. If you don't suck in and hold it until the mouthpiece cools, it just doesn't fit as tightly, in my experience. Pressing your tongue against the inside of the mouthpiece, forcing it harder against your teeth at the same time will also help.

But they're boiling hot when you put em in! Its tough trying to fight the reflex to spit the thing out.

As for gagging, my solution is to effectively grit my teeth with it in, breathe through my nose & spar so hard I forget about it.

[pegasi]

I always air cooled mine for a few seconds or so, just to let the surface temp drop enough that it wouldn't burn my gums. I thought most people would do something like that, so I didn't mention it.