Recommendations for the best 'boil and bite' sports gum shields please

[bobkate]

Title fairly self explanatory... have found very mixed reviews online. Probably need an adult sized one now. No braces yet but they're due in about 6 months so not keen to fork out for a £50 mould at dentist/home one.

Previously always had a basic black and white shock doctor one but they've never been that easy to get to fit well.

Shock doctor gel ones - not sure if that's the black and white one though! We have black and blue? 3 x rugby players and they have definitely been the best, easy to remould and good value. Better than the dentist one we had.

@TerrifiedandWorried

Shock doctor gel ones - not sure if that's the black and white one though! We have black and blue? 3 x rugby players and they have definitely been the best, easy to remould and good value. Better than the dentist one we had.

Thanks.... is your gel one like this? Our past ones have been like the second photo so no gel element. Great to hear they've been easy to mould. Much appreciated

Yep, gel ones very easy to mould- I leave them in the boiling water for fractionally longer than it says. The other kind have reduced me to tears on more than one occasion

@TerrifiedandWorried

Yep, gel ones very easy to mould- I leave them in the boiling water for fractionally longer than it says. The other kind have reduced me to tears on more than one occasion

me too. I don't know why I kept going back to the same type each season! Thanks. Will try that type...fingers crossed!

As a dentist I really wouldn’t recommend them. As the mother of an avid rugby player I have tried them and even I could not get them to fit. More often than not they would end up tucked in his sock because they kept falling out.
£60 for a bite guard is a drop in the ocean compared to £2500 for an implant or a lifetime of crowns and bridges.
One of the worst dental injuries I have seen was a hockey stick in the mouth which knocked out 4 teeth still attached to the bone in one piece.

I always say to my kids if they don't stay in by themselves they're not moulded properly and they need to do them again. I'm hoping that's the right way! What do you reckon @angrymum?

The opro gold ones are pretty good.

Pay money for a properly fitted one. A friend of dds got smacked in the mouth with a ball and because hers was a cheap one that didn't stay over her top teeth she lost both of them.

This is where I keep reading conflicting advice...especially with younger children whose adult teeth are still growing. She currently has 4 gaps where she's lost baby teeth and the new ones are just poking through...Surely if I buy a properly moulded one from the dentist it won't last that long because the new teeth will potentially affect the fit?

I’m a dentist and have tried the boil in the bag ones- totally useless! Get a proper one made by the dentist.

It’s easy to add some wax to the model before vacuum moulding to allow erupting teeth to come through fully btw.

I’m glad I’m not the only dentist who can do the boil and mould ones.

Ah okay. Thanks. I will call the dentist in the morning and see whether he can do that. That's interesting that they can accommodate the erupting teeth, although what happens if they come out wonky I wonder. Will see what he says.
Appreciate the advice, thanks

There is a massive difference in fit between the ones with gel in and the ones without. The ones without are impossible to mould at all.

@TerrifiedandWorried

There is a massive difference in fit between the ones with gel in and the ones without. The ones without are impossible to mould at all.

Yep, we've previously had ones with no gel and they were a nightmare! I think I'll get a gel one to tide us over until I can get an appt with the dentist and go from there. I think the current waiting list for appts is really long

I think I have spent more on those bloody boil and bite ones this year than I’ve spent on dental fitted ones in the last 5 years and I’ve never got one to fit. Only reasons I have been trying the home ones are dentist hard to access due to COVID and he’s in the middle of braces treatment. Once he gets top train tracks on I am hoping the orthodontist will supply one. Go for the dental moulded one every time!

Bloody nora .. just been quoted £120-140 for a gum shield from our dentist .

Our orthodontist said to get fully bespoke only once your DC was through major growth spurts (because having one will change that expensive snug fit to no better than self-fitted)

Also, by then they'll be a little older and won't lose stuff so damned often!

I get the Opro ones with the gel (not the ones with the channel with cross bits IYSWIM)

@EdithWeston

Our orthodontist said to get fully bespoke only once your DC was through major growth spurts (because having one will change that expensive snug fit to no better than self-fitted)

Also, by then they'll be a little older and won't lose stuff so damned often!

I get the Opro ones with the gel (not the ones with the channel with cross bits IYSWIM)

I think this will be our only option. Don't suppose you have a link for the opro one do you?

Opro do loads of different ones for different sports - if you go to their website they do a moulding kit you can do at home then send off to get the mouthguard made. Our rugby club used to have an Opro rep there for the first two mornings of the season and they did the moulding bit then the mouth guards were delivered a couple of weeks later.

We got one of these for rugby.
www.fightequipmentuk.com/sisu-aero-1-6-nextgen-adult-mouthguard.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMInIbP777O8gIVyu3tCh0Q3QB7EAQYEiABEgJmCfD_BwE

Some of the other ones are just massive and stick out and you can see all the kids playing with them, which I thought wasn’t great. We have had a dentist one, and we are due to get another (but about half the price you’ve been quoted) but this one did over the last 12/18 months where it was all a bit stop start with sport.

Although we bought ours from Amazon. Sorry that was the first link I could find to get the right brand.

@Mbear

We got one of these for rugby. www.fightequipmentuk.com/sisu-aero-1-6-nextgen-adult-mouthguard.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMInIbP777O8gIVyu3tCh0Q3QB7EAQYEiABEgJmCfD_BwE

Some of the other ones are just massive and stick out and you can see all the kids playing with them, which I thought wasn’t great. We have had a dentist one, and we are due to get another (but about half the price you’ve been quoted) but this one did over the last 12/18 months where it was all a bit stop start with sport.

Thank you

@blobby10

Opro do loads of different ones for different sports - if you go to their website they do a moulding kit you can do at home then send off to get the mouthguard made. Our rugby club used to have an Opro rep there for the first two mornings of the season and they did the moulding bit then the mouth guards were delivered a couple of weeks later.

Thanks