The Effect of Wearing a Customized Mouthguard on Body Alignment and Balance Performance in Professional Basketball Players

Abstract

The present study examined the influence of a customized mouthguard on body alignment and balance performance in professional basketball players. Twenty-three professional male basketball players, aged 25.8 ± 8.6 years old, were voluntarily assigned to participate in three treatments, including no treatment (no mouthguard), acute treatment (wearing a mouthguard), and repeated treatments (8 weeks follow-up). Body alignment status, such as spinal and pelvic posture and balance performance, were measured at each time point using a 3D Formetric III (Germany) and a postural control device (Posturomed 202, Germany), respectively. A repeated MANOVA analysis with a Bonferroni post hoc test was applied, and the adjusted p-value was set at 0.02. No significant treatment effect was observed in body alignment (p = 0.302). However, univariate analysis showed a significant difference in pelvic torsion, where it was decreased after acute and repeated mouthguard treatments compared to no treatment (p < 0.001). Kyphotic angle also increased significantly following 8 weeks of treatment compared to no treatment (p < 0.001) and acute treatment (p < 0.002). There was a significant treatment effect on balance performance (p < 0.001). Both static and dynamic balance performance improved following 8 weeks of treatment (p < 0.001). Our study revealed that a customized mouthguard provides a benefit to balance performance. Notably, repeated treatment impacts on balance performance more than acute treatment. Although our findings did not show a significant effect on body alignment, some positive results, such as pelvic torsion and kyphotic angle, may provide substantial information for developing future longitudinal studies with large sample sizes.

Biomechanical Behavior Evaluation of a Novel Hybrid Occlusal Splint-mouthguard for Contact Sports: 3D-FEA

“…Usually, the most common reasons for not wearing a mouthguard are discomfort and difficulty with breathing, talking, and swallowing, during an activity [24,27,28]. Similar to the previous reports [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10], this study reiterated the need to disseminate knowledge about craniofacial injuries and the benefits of using a mouthguard during a contact sport activity.…”

“…To reduce the injuries that can affect the bone, teeth and the temporomandibular joint [3], different mouthguard designs have been widely investigated, with the aim to increase the protection effectiveness [4]. Among the different designs available in the literature, there three main types can be found: stock, boil and bite and custom-made [5,6]. However, custom-made mouthguard designs are considered a superior option as compared to the other types.…”

Acute Effects of Wearing Bite-Aligning Mouthguards on Muscular Strength, Power, Agility and Quickness in a Trained Population: A Systematic Review

“…Originally, sports mouthguards were designed to minimize the incidence of orofacial injuries through the absorption of the energy during head and mouth trauma [ 1 ]. Besides this preventive role, several studies have investigated the effects of wearing these oral devices on metabolic [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ], ventilatory [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ], functional [ 10 , 11 ] or neuromuscular performance parameters, and this, concretely, has focused on strength [ 2 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ], power [ 12 , 15 , 16 , 18 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ], quickness [ 26 , 34 , 35 ] or agility [ 15 , 25 , 36 ]. The potential neuromuscular effects might be attributed to the postural repositionin...…”

Estudo da postura e equilíbrio do atleta por meio de fotogrametria e estabilometria no uso de protetor bucal para esporte

“…Ele também relatou efeito significativo no desempenho do equilíbrio, tanto estático, quanto dinâmico para a utilização de 8 semanas, promovendo assim um benefício no desempenho. Este estudo nos encoraja a realizar um novo estudo com um período de acompanhamento maior dos atletas e a utilização de outras tecnologias para avaliação (Nam et al, 2020).…”