From the football field to the basketball court to the hockey arena… play can get rough, and mouthguards are meant to protect. But even when they hit the ground, the game must go on. "It's pretty gross. It lands on probably the floor of the locker room, they're in the bag that is absolutely disgusting," said Patricia Howell. Her son Trenton plays hockey. She makes sure to get him a new mouthguard each season, but like most other moms, she doesn't think about it much after that. "He used to wear it where they were attached to the cage. We never took it off, and then he'd put it in his mouth. I mean, we never cleaned it. Never."
"It seems like they have it, put it in the bag until they grow out of it or lose it," said Joe Eckl, manager of the Laux Sporting Goods store at the Boulevard Mall in Amherst. He says young athletes probably don't think about what to do with mouthguards after they buy them. "They don't really clean it like maybe they should. Mouthwash or something like that they probably could clean it with," said Eckl.
The results of a new study may shock the jocks in your family. The bottom line: many are exposing themselves to an alarming amount of bacteria each time they put that mouthguard in to play. "You expose the mouthguard to, say, a thousand germs. Then you put the mouthguard away and, overnight, millions and millions of germs will grow from that thousand, so when you put the mouthguard back in, certainly you have a significant number of microorganisms," said microbologist Dr. Tom Glass.
"They're kept warm, they're kept wet," said microbologist Dr. Stan Conrad.
Microbiologists at Oklahoma State University made the discovery after swabbing dozens of mouthguards used by area athletes. The results--published in an issue of general dentistry-are truly staggering. "The mouthguard becomes highly, highly contaminated," said Dr. Glass. "In other words, every time the athlete puts the mouthguard into his mouth, it's like putting a handful of dirt in his mouth."
Mouthguards look solid, but are actually porous. That allows for flexibility, but it also allows for easier growth of bacteria and microorganisms…from staph-to strep to pneumococci. Researchers say it's reason for serious concern. "Not only are we worried about the effect right there in the mouth, we're worried about the effect in the lungs, with exercise-induced asthma from molds, and we're worried about the bacteria in the stomach that will produce toxins that will cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea," said Dr. Glass.
And, researchers say if the mouthpiece cuts the tissue of the mouth and the germs get into the bloodstream, the results could be worse. "We have found staphlycoccus aureus in the mouthguards that are methicillin resistant and, of course, this can be a fatal episode," said Dr. Glass.
Eckl says parents don't usually ask how their kids should take care of their mouthguards. "I think they're more concerned with just the size. The size and the fit. I really don't think a lot of thought goes into how to care for it after you buy it. Maybe it should."
Mouthguards are important, helping prevent not just tooth damage, but other facial injuries, and concussions. So what should you do? Experts say rinsing a mouthguard…even boiling it…isn't enough. Their best advice: "Change the mouthguard at least once every two weeks. Simply throw it away," said Dr. Glass.
The cheapest go for about two bucks a pop. Patricia Howell says that's no problem... and as much as the revelation rattled her, she sees this new information as a real score for sports! "I'd say it's huge!"
The study on the germs found on mouthguards appears in the September/October 2007 issue of General Dentistry, the AGD's clinical, peer-reviewed journal.
The Journal of the American Dental Association has an entire study on the efficacy of mouthguards in preventing concussions during sports play.
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