How To Properly Trim A Mouthguard. Coming Soon!

How To Properly Trim A Mouthguard

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How To Properly Trim A Mouthguard

Have you ever purchased a mouthguard at your local sporting goods store that you thought might fit you purely based off of how it looked in the package, only to find out that it was way too big or even too small? Most mouthguards come in varying sizes or lengths from manufacturer too manufacturer, but most come in youth and adult sizes. A handful of mouthguard companies offer small, medium and large like GuardLab and SISU with some of their mouthguard models. Mouthguards that might look small in the package at the store but then stretch out after fitting. Some mouthguards might not change at all. If a mouthguard is too big or too long (meaning it extends past your second molars) it could trigger your gag reflex. Check out the blog post "What Is The Gag Reflex And How To Avoid It"

The majority of consumers are relatively happy with their mouthguard purchase but some athletes are always looking for a better fitting and more comfortable mouthguard.

Everyone wants to pick a mouthguard off the shelf, take it home and boil it, fit it and then wa-lah, have a perfect fitting mouthguard, but this is the real world where almost nothing is perfect. I believe with a little research and some help from this article, you can get a pretty close to "perfect" mouthguard with a few tools you may already have at home and without much effort.

If you don't mind paying for a custom mouthguard ($80-$200) and paying the huge mark-up from your dentist, then be my guest. If you want to skip the mark-up from your dentist

(who takes five minutes to take an impression and then five minutes to check the final fit), then you may want to work directly with the custom mouthguard company. I will have a blog post of reputable, custom mouthguard companies in the future.

People complain that custom mouthguards are too expensive, but who's doing all of the work? It takes about 45 minutes to make a custom mouthguard from start to finish for the average dental technician with the average cost being about $75. Your dentist will tack on another $75-100 for his ten minutes of time after he receives itfromthe dentallab, and when you add it all up you just spent a lot of money for something that isn't much better than some boil-n-bite mouthguards that I can suggest to you.

I have made custom mouthguards for years and I can honestly tell you that a store-bought boil-n-bite mouthguard can be just as good for about one tenth of the cost. I have put my own children in boil-n-bite and custom mouthguards through their athletic careers (custom variety were free because I made them) and have noticed a drastic change, for the better, in boil-n-bite mouthguards. Im really surprised how far they have come since I was an athlete 30 years ago mainly due to advancements in materials.

All of my reviews of mouthguards are based on my size mouth, which is on the larger side and may be larger than your mouth. I have seen people with mouths that are bigger than mine, but not many. If you read any of my reviews and check out the AFTER FITTING pictures, take into consideration that I do have a large size mouth. I have fitted over 50 mouthguards to my mouth just for this website, and I haven't had the need to trim any mouthguard, probably because my mouth is on the larger side.

Recent research has shown that there is a direct correlation between how tall you are and how wide orbit your dental arch is. With my years of experience with making custom mouthguards and witnessing all kinds of different sized mouths, I know from experience that this is true most of the time but not all of the time. I have seen 4th grade male boys have fully developed large mouths. Because this research applies to most but not all, you may have to trim your mouthguard to get the perfect fit.

So what do you do if your mouthguard is too long or extends past your first molar? Instead of throwing it away and trashing it in the reviews section on Amazon and saying doesnt fit you, let me show you how to make the "perfect" mouthguard!

There's actually a right way and a wrong way to get a better fitting mouthguard. Number 1, you have to follow the directions from the manufacturer exactly while you are going through the fitting process. If you don't, your only wasting your time and your money. Most manufacturers instructions are very similar and some may be exactly the same, but just trust me on this, follow the directions to a T.

Note: You can modify your boil-n-bite mouthguard before or after you have gone through the fitting process. I suggest modifying your mouthguard after you boil-n-bite the mouthguard.

All of these steps in the video below should be done under adult supervision!

Tools Needed:

• Mouthguard (Before or After Fitting) I suggest before

• Dremel

• Nail File

• Torch

• Butane Fuel

• Scissors or Utility Knife (I recommend scissors because they are safer than a utility knife)

* Dremel Rotary Tool Buy Now

* BernzOMatic Micro Flame Buy Now

* Utility Knife Buy Now

* Heavy Duty Scissors Buy Now

* Zippo Butane Fuel (for the micro flame) Buy Now

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.