How to Choose the Best Sports Mouthguard for Braces
It often feels like braces make everything more difficult, including choosing a sports mouthguard. While we have a more in-depth piece on wearing a mouthguard with braces, we also wanted to put together a quick guide in case you need to make a decision fast. Here’s what you need to know about why sports mouthguards for braces are important and how to choose the best sports mouthguard for braces:
Why You Need a Sports Mouthguard for Braces
Sports mouthguards are essential if you play any type of contact sport, and they’re doubly important for people who wear braces. That’s because the metal wires and brackets pose a huge risk of injury to the soft tissues of your mouth, especially if you get hit directly in the face. The gold teeth mouthguard creates a barrier between the braces and the rest of your mouth, protecting you in case of impact.
Sports mouthguards can also help keep the braces and wires in place. This is very important because if they move out of alignment, that could delay your orthodontic treatment and even reverse your progress. Wearing a sports mouthguard with braces helps to keep your smile on track literally and figuratively.
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Not Sure What to Buy? Design It Yourself Then!
How to Choose the Best Sports Mouthguard for Braces
Below, we walk you through the three main types of mouthguards and whether or not they are a good fit for people with braces. Keep in mind that you should always consult your dentist or orthodontist before ordering a new mouthguard or fitting it on your own at home.
Stock mouthguards
First of all, we suggest staying away from stock mouthguards. That’s because they’re not fitted to your mouth in any way; you just hold them in place by clenching your jaw.
Not only does this result in lower protection and a less comfortable fit, stock mouthguards also tend to move around more, which increases the odds of them hitting or dislodging a braces bracket. Instead, we recommend upgrading to at least a boil and bite mouthguard.
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Boil and bite mouthguard
Boil and bite mouthguards are awesome for braces because they can be remolded many times before losing their shape. This means that you can adjust the fit as your orthodontic treatment progresses without having to get a new mouthguard every few weeks.
Our Apex and Apex Lite boil and bite mouthguards are pre-indented with a patent pending technique, making it easy to get a good fit, even if you are wearing braces. The pre-indentation also speeds up the molding process, making it easier than ever to adjust the fit.
Our cool mouthguards also come in three sizes so that you can get the perfect fit. Make sure to measure your mouth properly before placing your order. If you are between sizes, you may want to size up in order to accommodate your braces, which slightly increase the width of your mouth.
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Custom fit mouthguards
Custom fit mouthguards are sized to fit your mouth exactly via either an at-home impression kit or a 3D dental scan. The at-home impression kits cannot be used if you wear braces because the impression putty gets stuck in the brackets, so you would need to get a 3D scan made at your dentist for safety reasons.
Note that the custom fit mouthguard will be fitted to your teeth at that moment in time, so the mouthguard might not fit later if your teeth move during your orthodontic treatment. Consider a boil and bite mouthguard if this is a concern for you.
Ready to order the perfect sports mouthguard for your braces? Browse our Apex and Apex Lite mouthguards — including our DIY mouthguards collection — or look into getting a 3D scan for our Custom Fit Pro model. We offer discounts on multiple mouthguards that only appear when you add more than one item to your cart, so don’t be afraid to order more than one to get those discounts and hit that free shipping minimum.
