Comfort and wearability properties of custom-made and boil-and-bite mouthguards among basketball players: A randomized parallel arm clinical trial

Background/Aim

Thermoplastic mouthguards have been a reliable means of protection against impacts and shocks for a century. Although orofacial injuries are prevalent among basketball players, many athletes still avoid using mouthguards due to concerns regarding impaired breathing, speech interference, and nausea. This study aims to compare basketball players' subjective assessments of two different thicknesses of custom-made mouthguards (MGs) with boil-and-bite MGs (B&B MG).

Material and Methods

A total of 60 systematically healthy male professional basketball players, without active orthodontic treatment, were enrolled and randomly assigned to three groups: Group 1 (received B&B MGs; n = 20), Group 2 (received custom-made MGs with a 3 mm thickness [ethyl vinyl asetat]; n = 20), and Group 3 (received custom-made MGs with a 5 mm thickness; n = 20). To evaluate MG comfort and usability, 12 key factors, including comfort, fit, stability, tiredness, thirsting, oral dryness, nausea, speaking, breathing, drinking, ease of wear and removal, and inclination to chew, were assessed. The athletes were made to rate these factors using a 10 cm-long Visual Analog Scale, measured at three-time intervals, and the values for both inter-group and intra-group were compared.

Results

Data from 48 basketball players were retrieved, and data analysis revealed that B&B MGs had the least favorable parameter values. Among the B&B MG group, stability was reported to be poorer during the initial measurement (p < .05). In the second measurement, B&B MGs showed significantly lower values for comfort, stability, tiredness, speaking, and inclination to chew (p < .05). During the third measurement, the B&B MG group exhibited significantly reduced values for comfort, breathing, drinking, and speaking (p < .05). In contrast, no statistically significant difference was observed between 3 and 5 mm thickness MGs in these measurements.

Conclusions

Custom-made MGs with different thicknesses consistently outperformed B&B MGs in all measurements, indicating the potential to tailor MG thickness based on sport, age, professional level of athlete, and presence of other protective equipment. While custom-made mouthguards are considered the gold standard, dentists who provide B&B MGs can lead to cost savings while maintaining protection and encouraging athletes to use higher-quality custom-made mouthguards.