The use of some type of oral appliance to enhance human performance, decrease stress or improve strength, has occurred throughout human history, from ancient soldiers to modern athletes. To date, the science describing this phenomenon has been poorly understood, and the research has been limited. The goal of this paper is to review the efforts to improve human performance with oral appliances, ...

OBJECTIVES The aims of this study were to verify the occurrence of dental injuries in professional Brazilian soccer players, the level of knowledge of the teams' medical departments about mouthguards, and the conducts adopted in cases of dental trauma during the match. MATERIAL AND METHODS Closed questionnaires were sent to the physicians in charge of the medical departments of the 40 teams e...

OBJECTIVES When protective headgear is designed, the attitudes of the intended users needs to be taken into account, as well as safety performance criteria. The aim of this study was therefore to determine the attitudes of schoolboy rugby union players towards protective headgear. METHODS A survey of 140 rugby union players (82.4% response rate) from 10 randomly selected school teams in metro...

OBJECTIVES (a) To determine the force-time trace that occurs when a spring mounted simulated upper jaw is impacted; (b) to examine if mouthguards of variable quality have significant influence on such force-time traces; (c) to attempt to relate physical events to the profile of the force-time traces recorded. METHODS A simulated jaw, consisting of ceramic teeth inserted into a hard rubber arc...

Since the National Alliance Football Rules Committee issued a mandate in 1962 to require that football players in high school and junior colleges wear mouth-protectors, oral injuries virtually have been eliminated in this group of more than 1,000,000 players.' The authoritative articles on the advantages provided by mouth-protectors indicate, prior t o their use, that dental and mouth injuries ...