Mouth guard question

[riseball]

Up until this point I have never really understood by I see players (mostly older) wearing mouth pieces while playing. Today in a 10u tournament the base runner on the other teams gets into a run down between 2nd and 3rd, as she attempts to slide into 3rd the shortstop coving the bag catches the ball and makes a tag hitting the runner in the chin as she slides. The result ended up having the runner biting her tongue (not all the way off but a severe bite across the tongue). The quickly stopped play, realized the injury and got her off the field to seek medical attention. My daughter wears a face mask and an Evo Shield chest protector now. For the first time I am considering a mouth guard for her. How many of you have your daughters wear them and how often do you see this kind of accident. It is my first in my short 3 years of daughters playing softball.

Lot more players at the elite levels using mouth guards which provides much wider range of protection than a face masks or evo shields.

 

[obbay]

All the studies show are the results relative to football, so you cannot apply them directly to another sport. Soccer has a lot of concussions, would a mouthguard make a difference? it might- why not? would it have prevented a 12 y.o. girl I saw get get a concussion when she collided with another player, I doubt it. Same with the basketball players that have hit the floor or the figure skaters that have hit the ice or boards. I'm not suggesting helmets for anyone, all I'm saying is the benefit of a mouth guard relative to limiting concussions has only been studied on players of one sport where they are already wearing helmets and are not subject to being hit by a projectile at high speeds.

its interesting that folks would choose a $350-$500 mouth piece that will not protect your face but will protect your teeth and sometimes from a concussion, rather than a $55 mask that will do all of the above. To each his own.

 

[riseball]

A face mask will not come close to providing comprehensive protection and provides zero protection for tooth on tooth impact which results in damage that will never heal. If you are paying $350-$500 for a mouth guard I have a bunch of other stuff for sale that might interest you.

 

[iMlearning]

Lot more players at the elite levels using mouth guards which provides much wider range of protection than a face masks or evo shields.

My wife works for a dentist and DD was wearing a custom mouth guard when she was hit in the head. Unfortunately she still had a moderate concussion and I'm sure the mask would have prevented it. A friend of ours who plays on a top notch 18U Gold team got hit in the forehead in high school and had to get several stitches, again a mask would have helped in my opinion.

 

[riseball]

My wife works for a dentist and DD was wearing a custom mouth guard when she was hit in the head. Unfortunately she still had a moderate concussion and I'm sure the mask would have prevented it. A friend of ours who plays on a top notch 18U Gold team got hit in the forehead in high school and had to get several stitches, again a mask would have helped in my opinion.

Neither mouth guards nor face masks are design to prevent concussions. The purpose of a mouth guard is first and foremost to protect the teeth. It is not a question of one over the other. The bottom line is that teeth do not heal and a mouth guard provides protection in a much wider range of scenarios than other pieces of safety equipment including face masks. Wearing a face mask without or in lieu of a mouth guard does not make much sense.

 

[obbay]

a mouth guard provides protection in a much wider range of scenarios than other pieces of safety equipment including face masks.

Not being argumentative here, but I don't understand and would like to.
How does a mouth guard provide protection in a wider range of scenarios than a fielding face mask in softball? I'm only talking when playing defense, not offense.
thanks.

 

[RetiredCoach]

Neither mouth guards nor face masks are design to prevent concussions. The purpose of a mouth guard is first and foremost to protect the teeth. It is not a question of one over the other. The bottom line is that teeth do not heal and a mouth guard provides protection in a much wider range of scenarios than other pieces of safety equipment including face masks. Wearing a face mask without or in lieu of a mouth guard does not make much sense.

A face mask provides an opportunity for the ball to deflect and to prevent the full force of the ball from impacting the head/face of the player. Additionally, the force that is not deflected is absorbed by a larger area than if the ball had hit directly. I believe that these two factors could, potentially, reduce the risk of a concussion.

 

[riseball]

You typically play both defense and offense and the mouth guard can be worn at all times. A fielding mask just like a face guard on a helmet is extremely effective for what it was designed to do. But that scope, protection from blunt force trauma perpendicular to the face is very limited. It just does not occur that often compared to other events. In addition instinctively turn or lift your head and any benefit is pretty much negated. A face mask also leaves the jaw unprotected from an impact at an upward angle. Many injuries are the result of collisions between players, impact to fixed objects, etc. In those scenarios a players teeth are at significant risk. And as I said earlier, teeth will not heal.

 

[riseball]

A face mask provides an opportunity for the ball to deflect and to prevent the full force of the ball from impacting the head/face of the player. Additionally, the force that is not deflected is absorbed by a larger area than if the ball had hit directly. I believe that these two factors could, potentially, reduce the risk of a concussion.

Yes all of that is true. However, when I posed the question of concussion prevention to a major facemask manufacturer they made it abundantly clear that their product made no claim whatsoever with regard to the prevention of concussions.

 

[RetiredCoach]

Yes all of that is true. However, when I posed the question of concussion prevention to a major facemask manufacturer they made it abundantly clear that their product made no claim whatsoever with regard to the prevention of concussions.

I suspect that your question raised some legal concerns that the company did not want to address.