Mouthguard - please help an unsporty mom out

[Anonymous]

DS, who is 10 plays soccer and futsal and has new braces. His orthodontist says he needs to wear a mouthguard when he plays but had no suggestion about where to get one. DH is on work travel for the next month. Help a clueless mom out - where do I get a mouthguard for a kid? A regular sporting good store? What brand is good?

[Anonymous]

Sporting goods stores like Dicks should have them, maybe even Target. If not Amazon will. I don’t see a lot of kids playing soccer wearing mouth guards, though it’s probably a good idea. My son has been injured in soccer and basketball from hitting hit in the mouth, the braces cut from the inside

[Anonymous]

The big sporting good companies definitely have them, and there are specific ones for people with braces, so get that. Pay attention to the age range, too. fWIW, my kid needed the adult size towards the end of the kids’ range.

[Anonymous]

My kid needed the adult size by age 11, for another data point.

The braces mouthguards will generally not mold to the teeth. When you look at them, they'll have a smooth groove inside that the teeth rest in. Other mouthguards you'll boil & mold to the teeth, once your kid is out of braces. (My child's dentist and then orthodontist recommended mouth guards for soccer and basketball, even though they were only required for lacrosse. Including once the braces came off.)

Some mouth guards come with tabs that let you connect them to helmets, so when kids spit them out of their mouths they don't fall on the ground. You can clip those tabs off (or not, it depends on what your kid wants). Have extras. Kids lose mouthguards like crazy, or chew them up, or otherwise urgently need a new one. Go to a sporting goods store and buy a couple. I've found them near baseball gear, near hockey gear, and near lacrosse gear. For sports where mouthguards are required, you'll sometimes find that the clear ones aren't acceptable since the refs can't see them from a distance, so I just avoid the clear ones completely.

[Anonymous]

You want to get the Shock Doctor braces strapless mouthguard. It’s a clear light blue. Make sure you also get the strapless one. There are two kinds, one is for top and bottom braces and is one piece and horrible to wear. You want just the one for the top imho even if your child has bottom braces. You can get it on Amazon. 2nd pps suggestion to get the adult size. With this particular mouth guard you can cut it down if it’s too long and it won’t have rough edges. Unlike other mouth guards you do not mold the one for braces. You will also want to get the Shock Doctor mouthguard case which hooks to any bag.

I caveat this all with that you are going to have a tough time getting him to wear it. Most kids even with braces don’t seem to wear mouth guards unless they are required by the league.

[Anonymous]

We did Invisalign instead of braces.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You want to get the Shock Doctor braces strapless mouthguard. It’s a clear light blue. Make sure you also get the strapless one. There are two kinds, one is for top and bottom braces and is one piece and horrible to wear. You want just the one for the top imho even if your child has bottom braces. You can get it on Amazon. 2nd pps suggestion to get the adult size. With this particular mouth guard you can cut it down if it’s too long and it won’t have rough edges. Unlike other mouth guards you do not mold the one for braces. You will also want to get the Shock Doctor mouthguard case which hooks to any bag.

I caveat this all with that you are going to have a tough time getting him to wear it. Most kids even with braces don’t seem to wear mouth guards unless they are required by the league.

This, definitely. We tried Shock Doctor for braces, probably your best option. Orthodontist also gave us one, but DD still won't wear it. She says "it's hard to breathe" with it in her mouth, and she is a center back and needs to be able to communicate with teammates, which is basically impossible with the guard in her mouth.