Undergoing Orthodontic treatment doesn’t mean you have to spend your time on the bench during the season!

It doesn’t matter whether you play Basketball, Football, Baseball, or another sport - as long as you take proper care of your teeth & your investment in treatment, getting a straight smile won’t interfere with your athletics.

In order to learn how to protect your braces while playing sports, you first need to learn why it’s important.

Sports are a very physical activity, and often times can lead to close contact. Accidents do happen, and these accidents can not only be painful - but they can also be extremely damaging to your treatment process as a whole.

If you’ve ever experienced this, you know that it doesn’t feel great to have your lips pushed up too hard against the metal components of your braces. In fact, it really, really hurts!

But what you may not know, is that physical contact (that same hard push against your teeth from another player) can really damage your treatment. You see, your teeth are being moved by the braces constantly exerting pressure in certain areas - that pressure is what causes them to move into their new, more ideal place. But outside forces exerting pressure, if pushed hard enough, can also have an effect on how your teeth move. This can set your treatment back and increase the treatment time, or even set it completely off course.

Orthodontic Mouthguard Vs. Regular Mouthguard - Who’s The Champion?

1. Orthodontic mouthguards are designed specifically to protect teeth that are currently undergoing Orthodontic treatment. They are bigger in size than regular mouthguards, which allow them to fit over both your teeth and your braces. Orthodontic mouthguards are also usually made with a softer silicone material to better absorb any impact that can happen. This makes them not only more comfortable for you, but also much better for your teeth.

2. Regular mouthguards do help to protect your teeth during sports, but they don’t always fit in the right way or offer the same level of protection needed for someone with braces. Traditional sport mouthguards are often made with a hard plastic, which means that impact can transfer from the mouthguard to your braces - while can result in serious discomfort and potential damage. 

Think about it this way - a traditional mouthguard is just another hard object that can take impact and exert unwanted pressure on your teeth. If hit hard enough, this could be detrimental. A softer mouthguard designed to better absorb the impact is going to offer much better comfort & protection!

Another impact of an Orthodontic mouthguard is that, because it’s made of a softer material, it will better adjust to the ongoing movements in your teeth during your treatment. Traditional sports mouthguards are typically formed over your teeth upon their first placement, which means that they don’t really adjust after that point. In braces, your teeth are constantly moving towards a straighter smile, and a traditional mouthguard can actually work against your braces by stopping your teeth from moving during the time they’re in use.