"An athletic mouthguard is a resilient device or appliance placed inside the mouth (or inside and outside) to reduce mouth injuries particularly to the teeth and surrounding structures." (ASTM)

For optimal safety and well-being of athletes competing in the 21th Century, the Academy for Sports Dentistry has adopted the position that the single word "mouthguard" must be placed by the term "a properly fitted mouthguard".

The criteria for the fabrication or adaptation of a "properly fitted mouthguard" must include the following considerations:

1. Pertinent Medical History
2. Dental Status
   1. Dental caries
   2. Periodontal Status
   3. Developmental Occlusion
   4. Orthodontic or Prosthodontic Appliances
   5. Congenital/Pathological Conditions
   6. Jaw Relationships
3. Demographic Factors

1. Adequate thickness in all areas to provide for the reduction of impact forces.
2. A fit that is retentive and not dislodged on impact.
3. Speech considerations equal to the demands of the playing status of the athlete.
4. A material that meets FDA approval.¹
5. Preferably a wearing length of time equal to one season of play.

¹NCAA Football Rules & Interpretations 1-4-d

The Academy for Sports Dentistry recommends the use of a properly fitted mouthguard; encourages the use of a custom fabricated mouthguard made over a dental cast and delivered under the supervision of a dentist; and supports a mandate for use of a properly fitted mouthguard in all collision and contact sports.

When considering the enactment of mandatory mouthguard regulations, one should consider the following items:

• Mouthguard education of public
• Timing of implementation
• Dental manpower
• Cost
• Liability

Approved by the Academy for Sports Dentistry Board of Directors 2/6/99

Education and Manpower have been identified as critical issues in the delivery of properly-fitted mouthguards. In a 1989 survey of dental schools only 1/3 of dental schools offered some instruction in the fabrication of custom fitted mouthguards.

The Academy for Sports Dentistry supports the position that the dental school curriculum includes topics related to sports dentistry and the fabrication of properly fitted mouthguards. (lecture and laboratory).

The Academy for Sports Dentistry recommends that the American Association of Dental Schools and the Council on Dental Education of the American Dental Association consider the adoption of Sports Dentistry curricular guidelines for pre-doctoral dental programs.

(Please see ASD definition of a "properly fitted mouthguard")

Approved by the Academy for Sports Dentistry Board of Directors 2/6/99