What do I need to know about gumshields?

[LadyMuck]

Ds1 (7) apparently needs one this term. They seem to vary in price from about £4 to £60. School advises against "boil in the bag". Ds1 is currently minus several front teeth anyway. Would any rugby mums care to share their experience/wisdom?

DD2 had bog standard £7-£10 price range gumshields for rugby which were perfectly fine - the boys in her team who went to the local private school all had expensive dentist fitted ones, but they didn't seem to be of much better quality tbh.

I'm not a rugby mum (don't have any ds's!) but I am a hockey mum and dd has had to wear a gum shiled for several years now. Luckily her school has a visiting company every Michaelmas term who take a dental impression of each child, make the shield and we are charged through the school bill.

Dentists will also make them
for you.

"Boil and bite" are not recommended as they are not properly fitted and therefore much less effective.

The children at dd's school have to wear them, they are not allowed to play games without them.

I always find the boil in the bag ones too hard and uncomfortable... (well so my DS says) we buy a green shock one from JJB...it costs about £11? You still have to boil it and bit it but its a lot softer flastic...don't know where we're going to get one from this year now they're closed!

Our dentist gets the lab to allow for new teeth coming through. dd hasn't yet lost her top ones but undoubtedly will do so by Easter so she'll take the impression but give some room accommodate the new larger ones. She recommends a fitted one (rather than boil and bite) as they fit the mouth size better and can also protect the jaw against impact as well as teeth. I can't make the same specifications with the company who come into school and the price difference for our dentist to do it isn't that much (£35 ish).

There doesn't seem to be a universal experience then? There is someone who comes and visits the school and measures up the boys - at least they always have in prior years. But the dcs dentist (who is mum of a boy in the same class) doesn't seem to rate them.

Does the dentist mum offer to do them then ?

I spent almost £40 on a made to measure one through the school.

DS lost it on the first day.

Have never bothered buying a replacement.

I suspect the school only recommend that you buy them through "their" orthodontist as they get a backhander.

You have 3 choices - a gumshield from your dentist for around £70 but with follow-up care, an O-pro via school for about £40, or a boil & bite for under a fiver.

We have done all three - usually go O-pro, but once that's been lost, boil & bite.

Are the opro or dentist ones more comfortable? It seems such a huge price differential? Does the fact that he is currently missing teeth make a difference?

a boil and bite will be fine..

I talked with my dentist when I was getting on (£25 from my dentist) and he said unless you;re really into it (kickboxing in my case). For school use boil and bites are just fine.. they're not allowed to play full contact rugby until they're older anyway, are they(?)

Do remember that at 7 is will be tag rugby anyway. IMo you are just as likely to lose your teeth playing cricket, football or bouncing on the trampoline at that age! Not until contact is involved (at U9s level) should there really be an issue over which type is best.
DS plays rubgy at a local club, and just has a cheap gumshield. We will get him a more expensive one when he starts contact rugby.

o - pro are definately good enough!

Dentist ones are great too, not sure really what the difference is.

You will need to replace them more often if your ds is getting new teeth, sorry, it just is that way. Do not be tempted into boil in a bag ones, they are ill fitting. Is it worth skimping on such an important thing?

My advice is (as a dentist) get a good one, after all, if they lose/injure a tooth it is WAY more expensive and painful in the long run, especially if you can't find an NHS dentist!
Tell your DS if it is lost then there will be a dire consequence like no TV/computer for a week.

OK. Will the lack of front teeth cause any problems with the boil and bite type? His teeth are coming through, but presumably most 7yos have gaps somewhere?

Comfort - dentist ones are the best because they will check the fit after it comes back from the lab and make adjustments to it, if necessary. They will also not soon-to-erupt teeth so that they can be blocked out.

Next are O-pro, because they do come from proper impressions and are made of very hard thermo-setting polymer.

Boil & bite are last resort - they don't fit particularly well, and will only offer limited protection from a full-on blow.

You're not doing a great job in creating a consensus on this!

Boil & bite, because they are from thermo-plastic polymers, can be reshaped easily enough. Just pop them in boiling water as you did at the beginning.

But you do need to evaluate risks. If your child gets a damaged tooth, no matter how good a job the dentist does, and how natural it looks and feels, it will never be the same as a natural tooth.

Sorry that was a cross post. I might talk to dentist mum and see what mates' rates are. But I suspect for this first year I've not much to lose starting with a boil and bite and taking it from there. I doubt that he will be in the A or B team so won't be playing that much.

I'm , Riven. DSs would never be allowed to play rugby or hockey without their gumshields. They would have to sit out and serve a detention.

Don't the match referrees checke that both teams are fully equipped?