Search

A high incidence of oral injuries during contact sports has been reported. The wearing of mouthguards in contact sports effectively prevents oral injuries and protects oral structures, but the rate of wearing mouthguards is thought to be rather low. To encourage the wearing of mouthguards, we considered that students should be educated on the safety of wearing mouthguards. We discuss the causes of oral injuries and awareness concerning the use of mouthguards among Japanese high-school students of a rugby football team. The problems of existing mouthguards were investigated, and then custom-made mouthguards were fabricated. Most of the problems disappeared when using the custom-made mouthguards. Although there were still some students who complained about the mouthguards, it was suggested that the higher rate of wearing mouthguards might have resulted from the safety education. From the results of this study, safety education for users should be supplied to raise motivation and prevent trauma by wearing a mouthguard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]