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SMART Clinic Custom Made Mouthguards

1. Custom Made Mouthguards
   1. The techniques utilized by the sports medicine team at the S.M.A.R.T. Clinic to make their mouthguards are the same performed by dentists and dental hygienists. We utilize the same material that is used by several NFL teams. They are custom made to each individual to provide the best support and protection against concussion and can be made in your school colors. We have offered this service for free in the past with great success and hope with the help of local dentists to be able to supply all of the Berkeley county high school football teams with them.
   2. Mouthguards provide protection to the athlete from injuries in three ways.
      1. They act as a shock absorber to help prevent concussions.
      2. They protect against neck injuries.
      3. They protect the teeth by distributing the force of a blow over all the teeth and diminishing contact between the mandible (lower jaw) and the maxilla (upper jaw).
   3. Research has shown that mouthguards are key in helping to prevent concussions and brain injuries. A mouthguard with the proper thickness of 3 to 5 mm between the teeth can reduce the rate of concussion by preventing the condyle (lower jaw hinge) from being forced into the base of the brain (temporal bone) at impact. According to the research, 95% of all football concussions are transmitted through the mandible to the brain.
   4. Concussions:
      1. A concussion is defined as head trauma-induced alteration in mental status that may or may not involve loss of consciousness. According to the American Academy of Neurology, there are three different kinds of concussions that an athlete can suffer.
         1. Grade 1 Concussion: Transient confusion, no loss of consciousness, and a duration of mental status abnormalities of <15 minutes.
         2. Grade 2 Concussion: Transient confusion, no loss of consciousness, and a duration of mental status abnormalities of >15 minutes.
         3. Grade 3 Concussion: Loss of consciousness, either brief (seconds) or prolonged (minutes or longer).
   5. A properly fit mouthguard will separate the jaw and skull, acting as a shock absorber so the forces will not be transferred as much to the skull and brain, decreasing the chance of concussions. Often times, these off the shelf and boil and bite mouthguards do not sustain enough thickness to help with this, thus possibly increasing the chance for concussion. A properly fitted mouthguard reduces the chance of sustaining a concussion from a blow to the jaw.
   6. The American Dental Association recommends wearing custom mouthguards for the following sports: acrobatics, basketball, boxing, field hockey, football, gymnastics, handball, ice hockey, lacrosse, martial arts, racquetball, roller hockey, rugby, shotputting, skateboarding, skiing, skydiving, soccer, squash, surfing, volleyball, water polo, weight lifting, wrestling.