Last Updated on Thursday, 19 November 2015 08:58
By Dr. Rob LaPrade
http://drrobertlaprademd.com
Question: I recently received a penalty for not having a mouth guard. Why do I need to wear one?
Answer: I think you know part of the answer to this one already. While the obvious answer to using a mouth guard is that it protects your teeth from being chipped or knocked out, a mouth guard is also an important safety device to prevent jaw and brain injuries.
The main purpose of a mouth guard is clear. It is there to protect your teeth from possible direct blows where they can either be chipped, significantly fractured, or knocked out. While serving a purpose in this regard, they also help to prevent some of the bad lip and cheek lacerations that can happen when a tooth is broken.
The other, less widely known purpose of a mouth guard is to act as a shock absorber in your mouth. It serves as a spacer between the top and bottom row of your teeth and absorbs shock when you receive a large impact to your head or jaw. You can imagine that if you have a significant blow to your chin, this force is going to go from your chin up through your jaw bone, through your teeth, and into the bones of your skull. A mouth guard helps to decrease jaw bone (mandible) fractures. In addition, it is also believed that the use of a well fit mouth guard helps to decrease the chance of concussions. It does this by helping to absorb the force that your jaw may experience when there is a significant blow delivered to it. A concussion is basically a big bruise to your brain, and since multiple occurrences can result in permanent brain damage, it is very important to try to minimize your risk of getting concussions. It is highly recommended that you wear a well fit mouth guard when you play contact ice hockey. It is also important to not trim down the mouth guard too much or it will be ineffective in acting as a shock absorber.
I hope you choose to wear a mouth guard in all ice hockey related activities in the future. Wearing a mouth guard is similar to wearing seatbelts in cars. The mouth guard serves as a seatbelt to protect your teeth, jaw bone, and brain.
Robert F. LaPrade, M.D., Ph.D. is a complex knee surgeon at The Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado. He is very active in research for the prevention and treatment of ice hockey injuries. Dr. LaPrade is also the Chief Medical Research Officer at the Steadman Philippon Research Institute. Formerly, he was the team physician for the University of Minnesota men’s hockey team and a professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the U of M. If you have a question for the Hockey Doc, e-mail it toeditor@letsplayhockey.com.
