Contact sports like football, boxing, and mixed martial arts are inherently dangerous, especially for the brain. While there are plenty of things athletes and fighters can do to mitigate the risk of serious head injuries, such as training smart and wearing protective equipment when training, most people overlook one thing—wearing proper mouthguards. Not all mouthguards are created equal, and this post will tell you why the SYZMIK mouthguard is the best choice for high-impact sports like football, MMA, and boxing. 

How Mouthguards Protect Against Impact in Sports

While safety gear like helmets, headgear, padding, and gloves are invaluable, one piece of equipment is equally as important but often overlooked—the mouthguard. A high-quality mouthguard doesn’t just protect your teeth from high impact; it also helps protect your brain. Here’s how mouthguards protect your brain and well-being against impact in contact sports.

Protects Teeth, Lips, and Cheeks

Since the mouthguard sits in your mouth, the most obvious benefit of wearing one is protection for your teeth. The mouthguard acts as a shield for your teeth to protect and keep the latter in place from impact. Tackles and hits to the mouth and jaw, like punches, kicks, elbows, etc., can easily chip or even knock a tooth out. These aren’t only painful injuries; they can also be irreversible damages. Sure, you can get them fixed, but not after you spend thousands of dollars.

Subsequently, the cushion of the mouthguard protects your lips, cheeks, and even your tongue from cuts and bruises.

Provides Shock Absorption for the Head

When a high impact hits anywhere on your head, especially around the jaw, the shock doesn't solely affect the mouth and teeth—it dissipates throughout the head and reaches the skull. Wearing a good mouthguard reduces the damage from the impact by absorbing the force of the shock. This significantly reduces the risk of concussions, jaw dislocations, and fractures. 

Mitigates Soft Tissue Injuries

One of the most common self-inflicted injuries in contact and high-impact sports is biting one's lip during a game or fight. Providing a buffer between upper and lower teeth protects the soft tissues inside your mouth from accidental biting. 

Protects Against Concussion

While mouthguards don’t 100% guarantee against concussions, they can lower the chance of getting seriously hurt from impact. It can reduce the severity of the impact on the head by spreading the shock across a larger area, lowering the risk of severe head injuries like concussions.  

Tips for Choosing a Mouthguard for High-Impact Sports

OTC versus Custom-Fit Mouthguards

Choosing the right mouthguard is as essential as wearing one. To find the right mouthguard, you need to know your options. There are two options out there: the boil-and-bite and the custom-fit. The former is the over-the-counter option you can find in any sports store. They can be inexpensive and easy to use. The latter, however, requires professional fitting to get the perfect fit for each athlete. They are made by dentists specifically for your mouth. They provide the best fit and protection, but they can be expensive. 

Get The Right Protection

As said earlier, not all mouthguards are created equal. The minimum thickness to get ample protection is 4mm. This means there should be at least 4mm of cushioning material for the impact zones in your mouth (front of teeth, under the molars). These zones may change from sport to sport, so find the right one for your sport. Players must wear helmets with face shields for sports like football and hockey. Thus, the frontal profile can be thinner than the molar area.

Get The Right Fit

While mouthguards provide cushioning, and you need enough material thickness for proper cushioning, the thickest material doesn't mean the best protection. The mouthguard should sit snug in your teeth, and you should be able to close your mouth comfortably with it inside. You should also be able to breathe and communicate properly with the mouthguard. 

The mouthguard must stay in place (on the upper teeth) without biting or clenching your jaw. It should not come loose or float around your mouth. You should be able to remove it by only pulling it out with your fingers. 

Why SYZMIK Mouthguards are the Best Choice for High-Impact Sports

Proudly manufactured in the USA, the SYZMIK mouthguards are specifically engineered to provide the highest impact protection. They come with unique features such as the impact-dampening shield, a bonded layer that absorbs and disperses impact force. That shock absorption design is paired with the patented wind tunnel design, which allows the wearer to get as much as 20% more airflow, ensuring athletes can breathe effortlessly, even during high-pressure situations. 

SYZMIK mouthguards comprise high-quality materials such as BPA-free and latex-free compounds. They fit snugly and comfortably, even with braces. Best of all, they don’t require boiling, making them easier to use.

The Takeaway

There's nothing quite like the exhilarating intensity of high-impact sports like football, mixed martial arts, and boxing, but their risks are real, and their health consequences can be dangerous. If you want to do these sports longer and more often, you need to train smart and get the proper gear, including wearing the proper mouthguards.

Mouthguards are your investment in your health. They protect your teeth and prevent serious jaw, face, and brain injuries. That said, mouthguards should be an essential part of your kit. And don't just get any mouthguard; get the best mouthguard there is with SYZMIK mouthguards.