Mouthguards - OPRO vs dentist vs Amazon or similar

[Madcats]

I've not been near a hockey pitch for several decades, so haven't ever thought about mouthguards and the logistics of coping with baby/adult teeth.

DD's junior school requires a medium-weight (Hi impact) mouthguard which OPRO will do at school for a mere £47.85 or I can organise one for ourselves.

DD (6) has only lost 2 baby teeth (and she has 4 back teeth coming through). Sods law, she'll lose her front top teeth within a week or so of the wretched fitting (or her back teeth will grow much bigger).

Does this mean I'll need to buy a new gumshield every few months or so?

I reckoned Mumsnet would be the best place to ask.

My dentist told me to not waste my money on the specialist fitted mouthguards as their teeth & mouth are changing all the time. She recommended the highest quality Opro one, which are cheap in Sports Direct, & fit it yourself. It's been fine. Do not bother with the cheap Opro ones though! Absolutely do not waste your money on a professionally fitted one - it makes me cross as these schools can make parents feel that they need to get them!

We just bought my son's from the shop selling hockey kit. It was quite a specialist shop but was under 10. He had a variety of braces so just changed his mouthguard when it no longer fitted. I didn't realise you could get expensive ones, his orthodentist never mentioned it.

You can get special liner socks to go under the shin pads. Every now and then I'd grab them from his bag and give them a good scrub as well.

My dentist told me to not waste my money on the specialist fitted mouthguards as their teeth & mouth are changing all the time

This is exactly what DSs orthodontist said, although he said it rather more forcibly! He is horrified by the "properly fitted" ones offered by Opro and thinks they damage the alignment of the teeth. Boil and bite ones are, in his opinion, far better.

Our school insist on an opro fitted or private dentist fitted mouth guards.

DSs orthodontist said he would write a strongly worded letter to the school if they tried to insist on the Opro fitted ones.

Our orthodontist said exactly the same - use boil & bite not an expensive fitted ones.

Rugby club has a fitting service at the start of each season but I don't know how many children actually have those. Most seem to boil and go.

My youngest daughter, who has just turned 7, uses a Sisu boil and bite mouthguard. It is a little expensive compared to some of the others, but her mouth is small and even the junior mouth guards were too big to fit comfortably. This style can be cut down to fit. She can even drink with it on. We figured it was worth the money (just under £20 on amazon, I hate amazon, but needs must!) After all, a mouth guard only protects them if they wear it. And they we will only wear it if it's reasonably comfortable.