Custom-made mouthguards

Protecting your teeth from sporting injuries

A custom-made mouthguard is the best way to avoid damage to your teeth when you play a contact sport.

What is a custom-made mouthguard?

Sporting accidents are one of the primary causes of tooth injury. You can’t always avoid them, but by wearing protective gear, you can minimise the damage they do to your teeth. That’s why we recommended you wear a custom-made mouthguard when you’re playing contact sports or doing activities with a high risk of falling, such as riding a bike. A mouthguard fits over your teeth, absorbing impacts and redistributing the force to protect your teeth from breaking or being knocked out. We may also recommend a custom-made mouthguard to prevent damage if you grind your teeth at night.

What do I need to know about custom-made mouthguards?

Mouthguards are made of a rubber-like material that absorbs shock. Ideally, you want your mouthguard to be both comfortable and functional, which can be a tricky balance to achieve. While you can buy a generic mouthguard off the shelf at any sporting store, it won’t perform as well as one made to fit your teeth perfectly. Boil-and-bite mouthguards offer a slightly better fit but are often less robust. Custom-made mouthguards are tailored to protect your teeth in all the right places, strong but easy to wear, and allow you to speak and breathe easily.

An attractive woman smiles confidently, showing her healthy and strong teeth after a visit to dentist, Dr Dave Richards, of Natural Smile Dental St Heliers, Auckland.
The luxurious, clean, quality Natural Smile Dental clinic in St Heliers, Auckland provides dental and cosmetic services using advanced technology for a stress-free dentist visit.

Common questions about custom-made mouthguards

  • Custom-made mouthguards will help to prevent chipped tooth enamel, tooth loss, damage to the pulp of your teeth, and soft-tissue injuries to your lips, gums, and the inside of your cheeks. They can reduce your chance of oral injury by up to 90%. Worn at night, a custom-made mouthguard can reduce snoring, TMJ-related pain, and enamel erosion from tooth grinding.

  • It can take a little while to get used to wearing your custom-made mouthguard. Any discomfort you experience should go away within a few weeks. If you have any concerns, you can bring your mouthguard in for adjustment.

  • If you look after it, a custom-made mouthguard can last for several years. It’s a good idea to bring it to your dental check-ups so your dentist can inspect it for cracks. You can care for your mouthguard by washing it with cool, soapy water after each use, allowing it to air dry, and keeping it in a protective case.

  • Yes, kids need mouthguards too, even if they don’t have their adult teeth yet. If baby teeth are damaged or knocked out, it can cause problems for the adult teeth that will replace them in later years. Kids and teenagers will need their mouthguards replaced frequently as they grow.

  • To create your custom-made mouthguard, the dentist will take impressions of your mouth using a digital scanner. These impressions will be sent to a lab where the technicians will create your mouthguard out of a shock-absorbent copolymer. Usually, this takes around two weeks.

  • The cost of a custom-made mouthguard depends on your individual requirements. We’ll let you know during your consultation how much your mouthguard will cost.