Effects of an Over-the-Counter Vented Mouthguard on Cardiorespiratory Responses to Exercise and Physical Agility

Abstract

Many athletes avoid using mouthguards because they believe that they impair their ability to breath and negatively affect performance. Recently, some manufacturers have developed "vented" mouthguards (VentMGs) to address this concern. The purposes of this investigation were to describe the impact of a commercially available "vented" boil-and-bite mouthguard on the physiological responses to graded exercise and to determine whether the use of the same mouthguard influences performance during traditional physical agility tests. Recreationally trained males (n = 15) (age = 24 ± 1 year; (Equation is included in full-text article.)= 43.5 ± 1.9 ml·kg·min; body mass index = 25.2 ± 0.9) completed 3 randomly assigned trials where they wore no mouthguard (control), a traditional mouthguard (TradMG), or a VentMG. During each trial, subjects completed a modified maximal exercise test on a cycle ergometer and a series of physical agility tests (40-m dash, vertical leap, broad jump, 3-cone drill, and shuttle run). No differences were seen between control and the TradMG in any cardiorespiratory measures at any time during the maximal exercise test. Ventilation and blood lactate were lower (p ≤ 0.05) during VentMG at 200 W and at MAX; however, no differences in (Equation is included in full-text article.)were observed. Although TradMG had no impact on physical agility, VentMG produced a higher (1.9 cm; p = 0.03) vertical leap than control. Both mouthguard conditions negatively affected perceptions of breathability, comfort, and ability to communicate, but no differences existed between the 2 conditions. These findings confirm that TradMG has no negative impact on physiological function during exercise and physical agility; however, VentMG may have a positive impact at higher workload and on vertical leap.

Effects of sport-specific training conditions on performance in high school field hockey players.

“…Mouthguard (MG) use has been proven to protect teeth and other oralfacial areas from trauma during physical activities, which is especially important as the most common type of facial injuries during sports participation are dental 5,6,7,8 . Despite becoming a mandatory part of football safety equipment at the high school level in 1962, it took until 1973 for the NCAA to make MGs compulsory 9 .…”

“…Since then, MG usage rules have trickled through the ranks of high school and collegiate sports, with MGs becoming either recommended or required in more sports every year 9,10,11 . As such, it is required by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) that all field hockey players wear a MG during games 7,10,11,12,13 .…”

“…If not enforced, most high school athletes choose not to wear any type of MG during either practice or competition 13,18 . This is reportedly due to athletes claiming that mouthguards negatively affect their breathing and therefore performance, and also are uncomfortable and hinder communication 6,7,16,19 . This leaves athletes vulnerable to severe oral-facial injuries.…”

“…However, it has been found that when using self-adapted MGs, there is no difference in respiratory function, regardless of exercise intensity 6,14,18 . It also has been established through a number of studies that there are no performance decrements in any physiological parameter when a customized MG is used 6,7,14,17,18,20 .…”

“…Ratings of perceived exertion, or RPE's, tend to be higher while using MGs, and researchers have hypothesized that these perceptions may be changed by the everyday use 7 . This premise has been supported, with one study finding that attitudes towards…”