Use of mouth guards to prevent stresses of injury

Perception of Nigerian athletes of the use of mouth guards to prevent the stresses of sports injury

O. Adegbesan and C. Onyeaso

British Journal of Sports Medicine 2004; 38:685-689

The perception of Nigerian athletes of the use of mouth guards to prevent the stresses of sports injuries was examined using psychological, sociological, and physical stress variables.

The results from the measurement of 333 random participant revealed that female athletes perceived the use of mouth guards as being more important to prevent the stresses of sports injuries than male athletes, while athletes who had used mouth guards for longer periods also perceived them as being more important to prevent the stresses of sports injuries compared to those who had used them less. The result also revealed a significant difference among the various sport groups as independent variables on the psychological and physical stress variables.

Conclusions. The study concluded that since the impact of injury is perceived to affect the cognitive function of athletes, athletes should be educated on the use of mouth guards to reduce the incidence of oral and dental injuries to the barest minimum.