Rugby athletes’ awareness and compliance in the use of mouthguards in the North West of Italy

Abstract

Limited knowledge about oral injury prevention and limited use of mouthguards were observed. The present study suggests that educational courses for rugby players and coaches to promote the use of mouthguards would be extremely important to reduce common complaints about these devices and increase their usage.

The use of mouthguards and prevalence of dento‐alveolar trauma among athletes: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Athletes generally do not wear mouthguards with regularity while they are playing or training. This is probably due to the poor knowledge of athletes themselves and technical staff, as observed in the literature . Besides stimulating the use of mouthguards, a preventive practice in contact sports should also include information about emergency procedures, such as the preservation of the tooth after avulsion.…”

The incidence and severity of injuries at the 2011 South African Rugby Union (SARU) Youth Week tournaments

“…This phenomenon does not appear unique to South Africa as similarly low compliance has been reported in Northern Italy. 18 Although the literature on mouth guard effectiveness in injury prevention is equivocal about concussion, 19 there is evidence to suggest that dental claims can be reduced with improved compliance of mouth guard wearing. 20 Because of the relatively small number of time-loss injuries in this study, further comparisons between tournaments for positions or phases of play (scrum, ruck, tackle) could not be facilitated, as Knowles et al 14 stated that CIs become inaccurate and therefore of little use to the researcher when calculated on raw data of five or less.…”

Mouthguard-A Device for Prevention of Dental Trauma Injury in Visually Impaired Individuals: 1-year Follow-up

“…Several authors showed that wearing mouthguards can significantly reduce the frequency and severity of orofacial injuries in sports. 15 This indicates lack of awareness among parents and caretakers in visually impaired schools with regard to dental trauma. 16 This study has certain constraints.…”