More sports than you'd think
Everyone pictures football, but dental injuries show up from soccer, basketball, baseball, skateboarding, scooters, and playground gymnastics — anywhere elbows, balls, handlebars, and concrete meet growing smiles. If the sport involves speed, contact, or hard surfaces, a mouthguard is cheap insurance for teeth that have to last eighty more years.
The three types, honestly compared
- Stock guards (drugstore, ready-made): cheap, but bulky and loose — kids gag, chew them, or leave them in a pocket
- Boil-and-bite: better fit than stock, still bulky, wears out fast, and refitting as teeth change is guesswork
- Custom-fitted: made from a precise impression of your child's mouth — secure, slim, easy to talk and breathe around. The guard kids will actually wear is the one that fits
Braces, growth, and replacement
A mouthguard over braces needs to be designed for it — we can make a custom guard that accommodates brackets and protects lips and cheeks from them too. And because kids' mouths change fast, guards should be rechecked at regular visits and replaced as teeth shift and jaws grow.
Fall season fills up fast at our Sarasota office — if your athlete needs a guard, book before the first whistle, not after the first hit.
This post is general educational information, not dental or medical advice. For guidance about your child, call (941) 529-0331 or request an appointment.