Off-The_Shelf Mouthguards Save Money Up Front But Can Cost Dearly In The End
Saving money is a good thing. No doubt about that. And sometimes it’s perfectly ok to go with the knockoff version of a product to do just that. Who cares if your pen comes from the greatest pen maker in America? And no one will know if your baking soda is from Arm & Hammer or Arm & Hatchet (Yes, that’s a real brand).
But when it comes to your or your child’s once-in-a-lifetime set of adult teeth, you don’t want to mess around with a second rate, one-size-fits-all mouthguard. Why? Because in this case, one size doesn’t fit all, not really, not well enough to protect from the hard hits that come with competitive sports.
A mouthguard you buy off the shelf for $10 to $15, maybe boil to make it fit your teeth better, may sound like a much better deal until you realize what you don’t get with that mouthgard. What you don’t get is maximum protection for your or your child’s teeth and even brain. That’s right. A dentist made mouthguard offers another layer of protection for your or your child’s brain when participating in competitive sports.
One study showed that dentist-fitted mouthguards offer the best protection against trauma and concussion by reducing your chances of getting a concussion by more than 50 percent. So the relatively small savings up front on a cheap mouthguard can end up costing you much much more should you or your child ever really need the protection that a custom, dentist-fitted mouthguard offers.
At Downtown Dental Associates of Portland, we care about you and your dental health, and we want to help you understand your choices so you can make informed decisions. Call us today with any questions you might have about custom fitted mouthguards or any dental health issue. We are here for you.
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