Are Custom Mouthguards Better Than Store Bought Mouthguards?

Are Custom Mouthguards Better Than Store Bought Mouthguards?

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Are Custom Mouthguards Better Than Store Bought (Boil-n-bite) Mouthguards?

The debate of which type of mouthguard is "better" can only be decided by someone who is an insider or who has tested and used both boil-n-bite and custom mouthguards, and that person would be me!

I have been fabricating custom mouthguards for more than 15 years and have been a dental technician for since 1988. I also have owned and operated my own dental laboratory for over 20 years.

Besides having work experience with mouthguards, I know first hand the importance of mouthguards in the sports world. I have played several sports throughout my life at the high school level, including basketball, football, baseball and beach volleyball. I am also a father of two sons and a daughter who have played Soccer, Football, Basketball, Volleyball, Lacrosse and Baseball ever since they were in the first grade. From time to time I have used my children to test mouthguards to get a first-hand, real-world experience with custom mouthguards that I made them and store bought mouthguards. Currently, my youngest son, who plays college football, tests mouthguards for both football and weight training for me.

Lets break down the two mouthguards in question:

1) Store bought (boil-n-bite) mouthguards-

Most store bought mouthguards are fitted to your mouth using the boil-n-bite technique. The mouthguard is submerged in boiling water for a set amount of time (depending on the manufacturer) to heat up the material which makes it soft and pliable. The mouthguard is then inserted into the mouth, over the teeth, and formed to the teeth by biting down to adapt the biting surface or occlusal part of your teeth while at the same time using your fingers to adapt the mouthguard to the walls or buccal part of your teeth.

After the mouthguard has cooled and formed to your teeth you can trim the mouthguard to create a true custom fit if it extends too far back or is too high on your gums. Check out my article "How To Properly Trim Your Mouthguard" In my experience with fitting over 50 store bought, boil-n-bite mouthguards, I rarely, if ever have had to trim any of the mouthguards that I have fitted using this technique.

Pros + :

• Inexpensive

• Can be custom formed to your teeth

• Readily available for purchase

• You don't need an impression

• Quick and easy to fit

• Can be customized by trimming

• Can be thinner than Custom mouthguards

• Rivals the fit of custom mouthguards

Cons - :

• Can be ill fitting if you don't know which one to buy

• May be too large or too small depending on your mouth size

• Can be bulky

2) Custom-Made Mouthguards:

A custom mouthguard starts with an impression taken by a dentist, dental assistant or by yourself with an in-home impression kit. The person who takes the impression first fills the impression tray with impression material, then inserts the tray with impression material into the mouth and then you bite down gently. Once the impression material sets up according the manufacturer's instructions (usually a few minutes), the tray and impression material are removed from the mouth. Recent technology has eliminated the need for "traditional" impression taking procedures with digital impressions and 3D printing. If you want to know more about the different ways custom mouthguards are made, check out my article "All About Mouthguards"

Pros + :

• Extremely comfortable

• Maximum protection

• Increased oxygen intake

• Improved communicatioin

• Two or three layers of material for added cushion

Cons - :

• Expensive

• Time consuming to make (may take 2 to 3 weeks)

• Inconvenient ( you will have to make multiple trips to dentist)

• May not fit accurately because of a "bad" impression

Now let me give you my expert opinion on this debate.

Before you go out and buy a custom mouthguard from your dentist or even use a mail-in impression kit from an online custom mouthguard company because you did a Google search on which type of mouthguard is better (custom or store bought), take a moment to look who wrote the article. Almost all of the articles that are written on this subject are written by dentists or custom mouthguard companies. If you haven't read any of these articles, can you guess what they will say or what their opinion will be? Of course they will say custom mouthguards are better because guess what, thats how they earn money!!!

Ten years ago, I would have said the same thing, custom mouthguards were better but I can honestly say, some, not all boil-n-bite mouthguards are equally as good and in some cases better than custom mouthguards. I even put my own son in a boil-n-bite mouthguard his freshman season of college football instead of making him a custom mouthguard. He wore a Game On mouthguard, which I believe is the best boil-n-bite mouthguard on the market. It ranks #1 in my Top Mouthguards. If you want to see my review click here.

Most dentists and health professionals don't recommend boil-n-bite mouthguards. Why? Is it because they earn money selling custom mouthguards to the public? When I read the online articles, I have to laugh. The only word that comes to my mind and can sum it up would be ignorance, which is defined as the lack of knowledge or information. If they don't "recommend" boil-n-bite mouthguards, why does the American Dental Association (ADA) give Game On Mouthguards their seal of approval?

Recent developments in boil-n-bite mouthguard materials have made me change my mind about whether or not custom mouthguards were better than boil-n-bite mouthguards. Mouthguard companies like SISU, Game On and SafeTGard have made mouthguards more protective while at the same time making them thinner and more comfortable.

SISU has a whole line of mouthguards that are very thin from 1.6mm to 2.4mm, which is great for being able to communicate on the athletic field. The most incredible feature of their mouthguards is the strength of the high-tech thermoplastic material that they are made out of. They claim that the material is 50% stronger and has an 8x greater tensile strength than conventional mouthguard materials like EVA which is used in most custom mouthguards. Check out my review of the SISU Next Gen Max mouthguard.

Game On Mouthguards uses a material called Vistamaxx which they hold a patent in the use of mouthguards, meaning no other mouthguard companies can use the material in their mouthguards. Vistamaxx is unlike any mouthguard material on there market. It is 40 to 100% more shock absorbent than EVA (Ethylene Vinyl Acetate) which is used by almost every mouthguard company. In a study published in Dental Traumatology in 2015 FBG sensors were used to evaluate the shock absorption of the Game On Mouthguard versus custom-fit mouthguardsmade from EVA. Game On outperformed EVA in all tests, which included hockey pucks, cricket balls, and steel balls. Vistamaxx also prevents bacteria from being absorbed into the mouthguard, which keeps you from getting sick.

SafeTGard’s unique patented mouthguard increases shock absorbency more than 40% by forcing air into the materials during the molding process and further creating even greater air channels surrounding the front teeth and in between the molars. The STG Air® mouthguard is also 20% lighter than conventional mouthguards. Check out my review of the SafeTGard AIR mouthguard.

If your dentist claims he will make you a custom mouthguard, I can tell you from experience "he" won't have anything to do with making the mouthguard. If the mouthguard is made in the dentists office it will more than likely be made by a $15-20 per hour dental assistant (Here's How Much Money Dental Assistants Make In Each State) who may only have little to no experience making custom mouthguards. And to top it off, the machine they use to make your custom mouthguard may be an inferior machine referred to as a "suck down' or vacuum form machine in the dental laboratory community. It uses an internal vacuum to pull the sheet of mouthguard material over a model made from your mouth. Check out my blog article "All About Mouthguards" to get a better understanding of the different machines used to make custom mouthguards.

If you really want a custom mouthguard, I recommend IMPACT Custom Mouthguards. If you purchase a mouthguard from IMPACT Mouthguards you will save anywhere from $100-$900 by cutting out the middle man (the dentist). Also, make sure your dentist or custom mouthguard company is not only using the best machine which is called a Drufomat (which uses pressure up to 6 bars or 87psi to force the material over a model of your teeth), but also the optimum material for a custom mouthguard called PolyShok™. It is a proprietary blend of plastic designed specifically to create better athletic mouthguards. It has the unique properties of being able to form to the mouth at low temperatures. The result is a soft, comfortable mouthguard that absorbs more destructive force than other athletic mouthguards by transmitting less force to the teeth, jaw and brain.

PolyShok™ has been tested by American Standards in Testing and Measurements (ASTM) to be over 150% more shock absorbent than leading traditional mouthguard (Ethyl-Vinyl Acetate) materials. These results are reproducible in any ASTM certified lab in the country.

If you are purchasing a custom mouthguard you can skip the middle man (the dentist) and purchase a custom mouthguard directly from the reputable mouthguard company. I recommend IMPACT Mouthguards. Just make sure they are using PolyShok.

IMPACT Custom Buy Now

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In Conclusion, are custom mouthguards better than store bought mouthguards? In my expert opinion, ABSOLUTELY NOT!

If you have braces your choices are more limited. I don't recommend custom mouthguards or boil-n-bite Mouthguards for people who have braces. Check out the Top Mouthguards section for my top rated braces mouthguards and check out the blog post "Top mouthguards For Braces"

*The Mouthguard Review has no connection to any mouthguard manufacturer and has no financial incentive to rate any brand over another. All of the reviews are written and performed by one person and are 100% unbiased.

THE MATERIALS AND INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE HAVE BEEN PREPARED OR ASSEMBLED BY THE MOUTHGUARD REVIEW AND ARE INTENDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND ARE NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR ADVICE FROM A LICENSED HEALTH-CAR PROFESSIONAL. YOU SHOULD NOT RELY SOLELY ON THIS CONTENT, AND THE MOUTHGUARD REVIEW ASSUMES NO LIABILITY FOR INACCURACIES. ALWAYS READ LABELS AND DIRECTIONS BEFORE USING A PRODUCT. SOME OF THE INFORMATION MAY BE DATED AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE MOST CURRENT EVENTS. I WROTE THIS ARTICLE MYSELF AND IT EXPRESSES MY OWN OPINIONS.