How Does A Mouthguard Work?

Everybody has some degree of misalignment in their jaw. This misalignment creates tension and prevents the muscles in your upper body from working at their full potential.

A sports mouthguard puts your jaw in its optimum position, allowing your muscles to be recruited to their full potential, thus improving their strength.  This optimum position also gives you greater balance and opens your airway for better endurance.

Using a mouthguard for sports won’t make you stronger than you are, but it does help release your natural strength. You’ll also notice a significant improvement in your range-of-motion and balance when you use a mouth guard during athletic activity or in strength training and conditioning exercising.

Good Oral Health To Use A Mouthguard

If you have worn down or broken teeth, missing restorations or fillings, loose teeth, or clicking jaw joints, you’ll need to resolve them before you can be fitted for a sports mouthguard. The staff at Top Down Dental in Los Gatos have the experience and training required to resolve your jaw joint and dental issues.

Once your oral health has improved, Dr. Nancy Nehawandian will be able to fit your mouthguard. Sports mouthguards are made to a precise bite position for your jaw. In order to determine this position, Top Down Dental uses a TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Neural Stimulation) medical device to relax your muscles and increase the blood circulation in your jaw and neck muscles.

Protect Yourself and Get Results

A mouth guard for sports is based on two very important health ideas. The first is basic protection of your teeth and jaws against blunt force trauma, as well as protecting your brain against concussion. The second is based on the principles of neuromuscular dentistry which is the science of how your jaws fit and work best against the base of your skull.

Emerging research is showing us that, when your jaw and neck are balanced and properly aligned, the nerves and muscles of your head and neck are able to work together in a comfortable and stable manner.  If they are out of balance or misaligned, you’ll get muscle guarding and weakness that decreases your balance, strength and stamina.

Jokingly, some athletes and journalists have referred to sports mouth guards as “legal steroids” because of the way they enhance performance. While this tongue-in-cheek reference may fit due to its performance-enhancing effects, mouth guards for sports are nonetheless a very legal and welcome addition to the world of exercise training and athletic competition. (However, your opponents may wish it were illegal!)

The Right Mouthguard in Los Gatos

There are many sports mouth guards out there, from the inexpensive sports store boil-and-bite variety to more pricey custom mouthguards made by dentists.

While these mouthguards will protect your teeth from damage and injury, unless your sports mouthguard is fabricated by a dentist that is certified and trained in neuromuscular dentistry, they won’t deliver the same performance-enhancing benefits.

Dr. Nancy Nehawandian is a trained and certified neuromuscular dentistry practitioner.  The sports mouth guards that she produces at Top Down Dental in Los Gatos are “dialed in” to a precise measurement by using sophisticated electronic instrumentation normally used for treating actual TMJ patients.

Your Top Down Dental mouth guard for sports will protect your teeth and enhance your athletic performance by creating a stable biting position that’s unique for your jaw. Give us a call at (408) 354-5600 or schedule your appointment today.