I played recreational softball for years as a child. There were always certain precautions that we took that just felt like a given: helmets for when we were at bat, batting gloves to protect our hands, and, of course, mitts to catch the ball — and big, bulky mouthguards.
It turns out that not only are mouthguards a crucial part in keeping youth players safe, but the technology that goes into creating mouthguards has grown by leaps and bounds since their inception nearly 70 years ago. There are a few dental experts at the forefront of developing mouthguards for the benefit of kids everywhere, and few have gone as far as Michigan's Michael Hutchison, DDS, the dentist who developed PowerPlus Mouthguard.
If there is one thing that I remember about the mouthguards of my day, it's that they were bulky and incredibly uncomfortable. And OK, that's two things — but you know what I mean. These mouthguards covered both your top and bottom teeth but made your upper lip protrude in a way that seemed to defy logic. For this reason alone, I, like a lot of kids I knew, often "lost" my mouthguard so I could avoid wearing it in the first place.
At the time, I had no idea that mouthguards could do more than protect teeth. In fact, Michael Hutchison explains that they can also prevent the occurrence of concussions in youth players, since a percentage of concussions are caused by impact to the jaw, which in turn impacts the joint and distributing forces to the brain. Since youth athletes are more prone to concussions than their adult counterparts (owing primarily to their weaker neck muscles), wearing the right gear on their teeth can make a major difference.
PowerPlus Mouthguard has designed a new model of mouthguard that covers only an athlete's bottom teeth. When I asked him why, Hutchison explained that the older model was developed by the American Dental Association after football players at Notre Dame began breaking their teeth while playing. As he put it, "At the time, technology was such that the dental community thought that the most important jaw was the maxilla, or upper jaw."
It turns out that this isn't quite true. In fact, Hutchison says, "Through research I conducted, I found that putting the mouthguard on the lower arch increased strength by 16.8%, increased oxygen intake, made it possible for people to speak normally, and reduced concussions down to .2%."
More specifically, he found that when an athlete uses a mouthguard that is custom-designed to fit that player's bite position, they will experience better balance, more strength, better oxygen intake — all while significantly lowering their chances of experiencing a concussion.
Plenty of parents see the benefits of a mouthguard that protects a player's teeth while also preventing concussions. And as Hutchison puts it, you can't find a mouthguard like this in stores, which is one reason why he travels to youth sports events, such as a recent basketball camp in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that was hosted by Tremaine Dalton of The Process Basketball and All-In Sports. At this camp and so many like it, Hutchison is able to speak directly with parents about the significant benefits of a product such as his.
While it might be easier in some ways to strike up a marketing deal with a big brand to sell his product, working directly with programs such as The Process Basketball and All-In Sports allows Michael the opportunity to connect one-on-one with families in his home state of Michigan and throughout the United States. Both programs have built robust off-the-court reputations for being invested in their communities and in nurturing youth athletes, two things that are also a huge priority for PowerPlus Mouthguard.
Ultimately, when it comes to the protection your kids are wearing when they play sports, Hutchison believes that "there's no reason that you should wear a mouthguard built with technology that is 72 years old anymore — it doesn't help you physically, and it actually can make you weaker and more susceptible to concussions."
PowerPlus Mouthguard's products are essentially the cost of Friday night pizza for a family, and the benefits — running faster, jumping higher, hitting the ball further in addition to lowering the possibility of experiencing a concussion to .2% — make this mouthguard an easy buy for parents of kids who play sports everywhere.
