Mouth Guard Concussions

Words: 1112
Pages: 5

Introduction:

Within the introduction, the author states that in a recent research project, a man by the name of Hasegawa et al found that rugby players that wore a properly fitted mouth guard and clenched their teeth at the time of physical blow produced a marked decrease in head acceleration. The introduction also states that in a previous study, the type of helmet worn in football, made a difference in the amount of concussions that occurred. This lead to the questioning of whether the type of mouth guard could have an effect, also. The goal of this study was to check the effectiveness of custom-made, properly fitted mouth guards compared to OTC mouth guards, and their effects on concussions in high school football players.
It has been
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Also, the type of mouth guard that was worn during the practice/game at the point in which the concussion occurred was also recorded. The guard’s thickness was measured and submitted to 2 independent measurers for caliper measurement. The ImPACT test, a computerized test program, has been proven to measure the cognitive effects of concussions. 19 of the athletes in this study had previously taken a baseline ImPACT test. Any athlete with a concussion injury was not able to return to play until the test results were within a normal range. This study could be easily repeated with different ages of subjects, or subjects from a different sports team to determine the effectiveness of mouth guards in a different …show more content…
Eight players were wearing a custom mouth guard when they got their concussion. Thirteen players were wearing an OTC mouth guard when they got their concussion.
Although standard deviations and standard errors were not reported for each variable, the results supported the hypothesis, that custom-made mouth guards reduce the frequency of concussions in high school football players. The concussion injury rate within the groups was 8 out of 220 (3.6%) for the custom mouth guard group and 16 out of 192 (8.3%) for the OTC group.
The data reported in this experiment was clear and easy to understand, including the percentages of athletes who received concussions in the two different groups. Along with all the data being presented in the correct units, the percentages of athletes from each group that obtained concussions was also given. The pictures and models used in this article were extremely helpful in understanding how the mouth guard fits and how the thickness was measured. The data collected seems reasonable because a custom fit guard would most likely be a safer option for all athletes rather than one that doesn’t fit correctly.