Mouth-guards

The American Society for Testing and Materials has defined mouthguards or a mouth protector as ‘a resilient device or appliance placed inside the mouth (or inside and outside), to reduce mouth injuries, particularly to teeth and surrounding structures’.

The use of makeshift mouthguards made from rolled cloths, sponges, or pieces of wood have been employed as early as in the 1830s by boxers who recognized the protective advantage of a guard in their mouths. In the 1890, Woolf Krause, a dentist from London, invented a more formal mouthguard for the benefit of the boxers. This indeed helped in reducing lip lacerations and teeth fractures that by 1920, the use of mouthguards for this sport became mandatory.

After boxing, American football was the next sports to use the mouthguards. By 1950, it was observed in the US, that 25-30% of all injuries sustained in the game were dental in nature. The American Dental Association encouraged that use of the athletic mouthpieces that in the US high school football season of 1962, the use of these protective agents were mandated.

Read more about mouth-guards and their purposes here.

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