In the past we have been presented with some scary data regarding dental injuries in sports. Like for instance, each year one million dental injuries will happen during sports. 200,000 of those are injuries where one or more teeth get knocked out.
The American Dental Association estimates that the cost to fix each tooth adds up to be about $15-20,000 throughout the lifetime of a tooth. Seems high but this is because most of those injuries requires a implant later on, perhaps even 10-15 years after the accident. That's why.
Anyhow, that's a lot of money. Like a real huge chunk of money.
So what is the big deal spending a little money upfront in order to buy a mouth guard to protect your teeth? After all, most of us don't think twice about shelling out hundreds of dollars to buy a helmet, or a pair of skates. Why is it worth risking to endure crucial pain and costly dentist visits by going cheap on a mouth guard? Is it because you think it's bulky? Hinders your breathing and speech? If you are a SISU Mouth Guard user, and you probably are since you're reading this, then you know this doesn't apply to you. If not, then maybe you should ask yourself: Where is your mouth guard?
But for the rest, it just doesn't make sense! The fact of the matter is that dental injuries in sports are on the rise and in activities that you wouldn't immediately identify as sports needing mouth guards. Such as volleyball, water polo, baseball, snow sports, biking - or cheerleading! These are just a few examples from the more obvious sports such as football, lacrosse, roller derby, fieldhockey, soccer, basketball and ice hockey.
Speaking of ice hockey, a couple of years back there was a study done with 2,000 hockey players in Sweden to show the relation between mouth guards and prevention of dental injuries. The study showed that before wearing mouth guards in hockey was mandatory, 65% of the players ended up with some kind of dental injury. After making it mandatory, 35% of the players still ended up with a chipped tooth or some other kind of injury. Why? Because the the softer EVA based guards weren't doing a great job in protecting the teeth. A hard non-compressible mouth guard that doesn't cave in under impact is what you need to protect your teeth. Check for SISU.
Since the fit wasn't good the players ended up taking the guard out, sticking it in their helmet. When that puck or stick came flying...well, bye bye tooth. That tells us that comfortable fit is crucial to wearing a mouth guard. Check for SISU.
Being able to drink and talk without taking the guard prevents accidents too. Check for SISU.
(And, ahum sorry for boosting ourselves, there really isn't ant germ transfer either because if you fit the SISU correctly there is no need to handle it with dirty hands during games and practices.)
If you don't believe us, check out our Facebook pages where athletes are raving about SISU. If you have a SISU story you haven't shared with us yet, please let us know.
And just FYI, we offer free shipping on First Class shipping within the US.