IMPORTANT QUALITIES for boxing mouthguards

In case you don't know WHY fighters wear mouthguards, it's to protect themselves and also their opponents. Your teeth can cut into your lips, insides of the mouth, or their tongue, or dig into your opponent's knuckles. Or also the other terrible scenario, you don't want someone's teeth getting punched out.

I can tell you from my own personal experience that sparring without a mouthguard is a terrible mistake. You are bound to bite your own lip or chomp on your own tongue. I've bitten through my own tongue (basically gave myself a tongue piercing) when I got hit with an uppercut while not wearing a mouthguard.

 

1. COMFORT

You have to feel like it fits your mouth comfortably and that you feel "natural" with it in. If it feels like a rock is suffocating your mouth, that's not the right feeling! If it feels like it's leaving your mouth open and kind of vulnerable to getting punched, that's also not the right feeling. If you don't feel comfortable, you won't relax.

The worst mouthguard are the ones that don't feel like they leave your jaw in a natural position. Some will make your mouth, jaw, or neck muscles tired. Others make you salivate a lot. Tension is really bad, as even a little bit of jaw tension can spread down your neck and to the rest of your body, affecting your overall body movements.

 

2. PROTECTION

The mouthguard should protective your teeth, your jaw, and brain. The teeth is protected by the "rigidity" of the mouthguard. The jaw is protected by the mouthguard keeping the upper and lower jaws aligned; if the lower one is "loose", it feels like it can be broken! The brain is protected by how well the mouthguard distributes the shock impact across your entire skull instead of only to one area.

NOTE: everything I just said is a wild guess. I'm not a doctor or mouthguard scientist. I'm simply going by what I feel!

 

3. BREATHABILITY

You have to be able to breathe through the mouthguard. There's no point in a mouthguard that feels secure but makes it harder for you to breathe. Some mouthguards feel like they cover all your breathing holes, or that you have to use more lung muscle to force air in and out. This feeling can come because the breathing holes are too small or maybe because the way your lips roll over the mouthguard. Everyone's mouths are shaped differently so it can come down to personal preference as well.

 

4. MULTI-DENSITY

I think the best mouthguards absolutely have to be made of multi-density plastic. It's because if you have single density, they end up being either SOFT all over (for comfort) but then are easily chewed through or aren't rigid enough to offer support….ORRRRR…..they're HARD all over and don't mold well enough to your mouth for comfort. I think the best balance is that the parts that get bitten have to be strong enough to resist your teeth and the parts that wrap around your teeth should be softer for comfort (molding to your mouth better, and also not cutting into your gums).