“A mouthguard, also known as a gumshield, mouth protector or sports guard is an appliance that covers the teeth and surrounding mucosa with the aim of preventing or reducing trauma to the teeth, gingival tissue, lips and jaws.”
Studies show that 13 to 39% of all dental injuries are sports-related, with mountain biking causing the 10th most dental injuries out all contact and non-contact sports.
In 1890, British dentist, Woolf Krause created the first Gum Shield to protect boxers against lip lacerations. Since, this “Gum Shield,” has seen significant changes and improvements, and today it’s commonly known as an athletic mouthguard.
Mountain biking & dental protection
“Mouthguards function by absorbing impact stresses, which results in a reduction of force transmitted to the teeth, bone structure, cranium and surrounding soft tissue”
Mouth and teeth protection while mountain biking comes from 3 pieces of protective equipment or gear.
Helmets
Face mask
Mouthguards
A full-face downhill helmet offers more dental protection compared to a cross-country style open-face helmet, which lacks any face protection.
However, even if you are wearing a full-face helmet, you can still get more protective by using a mouthguard, as it will dissipate the energy during impact from crashing.
Do mouthguards help prevent concussions?
While research clearly shows that mouth-guards significantly reduce dental injuries, there is much confusion as to whether mouthguards reduce concussions. However, the main reason for wearing a mouthguard is to protect your teeth, if you do happen to get even a tiny amount of added protection against concussions, that is just a bonus.
Custom Mouthguard (Image source: Schulze, et al., 2019)
Dental injuries: Mountain biking & mouthguards
“The Fédération Dentaire International subdivides organized sports into two categories based on the risk of traumatic dental injuries: high-risk sports (such as American football, hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, martial arts, rugby, inline skating, skateboarding and mountain biking)”
Both the American Dental Association (ADA) and the International Dental Federation (FDI) recommend the use of mouthguards while mountain biking. These organizations list 29 sports where mouthguards should be worn, such as hockey, rugby, and American football. It should also be noted that mountain biking not only was included but is categorized as “high risk.”
“Of all questioned participants, 25.4% had witnessed mountain bike accidents resulting in dental trauma before. ”
Mountain biking has a dental-injury rate between ~6 to 15% and is the 10th leading cause of visits to the dentist among all sports.
Every mountain biker knows a fellow rider or two, who has experienced traumatic injuries to their teeth…..I certainly know more than a handful.
As you can see from the bar graph (below), outside of the obvious contact sports and skiing, mountain biking has the most mouth-related accidents. There is a good reason that both the ADA and FDI recommend mouthguards for mountain bikers.
Should I wear a mouthguard mountain biking?
A group of researchers conducted a study called "A prospective study of downhill mountain biking injuries" and had this to say:
The use of mouthguards should be enforced in all sport types facing a higher risk of orofacial injuries, such as mountain biking - British Journal of Sports Medicine
If bombing down tight singletrack, stunting jumps, or blasting through the bike-park is you, then wearing a mouthguard should be part of your MTB body armor kit.
Necessity of using mouthguards during sporting activities ( in order)
Mouth guards & performance
“ The same motives for choosing not to use a mouthguard have been reported for men and women.”
In surveys of athletes, the main arguments for not wearing a mouth-guard are 3-fold:
Difficulty in communication
Discomfort
Fear of performing worse
hindered communication ( speech impairment)
Mountain biking, especially downhill or while riding steep & technical singletrack is essentially a solo sport. When riding the lift or gondola up in bike parks or climbing on singletrack, it’s pretty easy to store the mouthguard in a pocket or pack and talk freely.
Discomfort
What is more comfortable, a busted mouth, or wearing an adult pacifier??
Boil-and-bite mouthguard (Image Source: Uzel et al., 2014)
Fear of reduced performance ( negative breathing effects)
“The results indicated mouthguard use did not affect heart rate, rate of perceived exertion, minute ventilation, oxygen consumption, or respiratory exchange ratio at any given power level during exercise.”
Numerous studies have been conducted in soccer, rugby, boxing, and cycling, that look at athletic variables, such as respiration, heart rate, oxygen consumption, power output, sprint and jumping ability with and without mouthguard use.
The overwhelming consensus is that mouth-guards don’t hinder performance as measures of athletic variables remain stable:
Muscular endurance is the same
Power output is the same (some studies even show higher)
Breathing rate and the ability to utilize oxygen remains unchanged
Did you know that you can go FASTER, just by switching chain lubricants??
best mouthguard for mountain biking
“Mouthguards differ and wearers need to be aware of their various protective capabilities.”
There are 3 types of mouthguards
Custom-made by your dentist (offers superior protection)
Mouth-formed “boil-and-bite” mouthguard
Ready-made or stock
Custom-made mouthguards are best. However, the price will dictate whether you want to spend $2 at your local sporting store or upwards of $100 on a custom made mouthguard. Considering the cost and subsequent hassles of a busted tooth, I’d say the only option, as far as I’m concerned, is going custom.
Final thought
A custom-made mouthguard is relativity cheap, lightweight, and convenient piece of protective equipment that should be deemed “essential” for any serious downhill mountain biker.
For those that ride XC trails, if you have ever been held back during steep and technical singletrack, carrying a mouthguard in your pack or pocket for those questionable sections might give you that boost of confidence, and protection that you need.
Jesse is Director of Pedal Chile and lives in Valdivia, Chile. Jesse has a Master of Science in Health & Human Performance and a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology. Hobbies: MTBing, snowboarding, reading, taster of craft beers, researcher, & compression sock wearer.
More articles from Pedal Chile
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