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A custom sports mouthguard is the single best way to protect your young athlete's teeth, and the numbers back it up. The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons reports that athletes are 60 times more likely to damage their teeth when they play without a mouthguard. So if your child plays soccer, basketball, football, or any contact sport in Chatsworth, a well-fitted sports mouthguard can save you from a scary injury and a painful repair bill. Here is how custom mouthguards work, why they beat the drugstore version, and how to get one that actually fits.
Most parents know helmets and shin guards matter. The mouth gets forgotten, and that is exactly where a lot of sports injuries land. A knocked-out or cracked front tooth is not something that grows back, and the fix can follow your kid for the rest of their life. The good news is that this is one of the easiest injuries to prevent, and it starts with a piece of molded plastic that costs less than a pair of cleats.
Kids are tougher on their teeth than most parents realize. The American Dental Association notes that 3 to 39 percent of all dental injuries are sports-related, and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry points out that children ages 7 to 11 are the most likely to take an oral hit during play. That is prime youth-sports age, right when the permanent front teeth have just come in and have decades of use ahead of them.
A sports mouthguard works like a shock absorber. When an elbow, a ball, or another player's head slams into your child's face, the guard spreads that force across all the teeth and the jaw instead of letting it crack one tooth. It also cushions the lips and cheeks against the teeth, which cuts down on the split lips and gashes that send families to urgent care.
Here is what a good guard helps prevent:
Any sport with contact, a ball, a stick, or a hard floor carries risk. Soccer, basketball, baseball, football, hockey, skateboarding, and martial arts all put young mouths in the line of fire, and basketball and soccer send a surprising number of kids to the dentist because nobody expects them to.
The reason dentists push mouthguards so hard is simple. The injuries they prevent are expensive, slow to heal, and often permanent. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry estimates that treating a single knocked-out permanent tooth can run 5,000 to 20,000 dollars over that tooth's lifetime, once you add up the first repair, the follow-up care, and the crowns or implants it may need down the road. That is one tooth, and kids have twenty of them up front that are at risk.
What makes this worse is how many kids go unprotected. Surveys cited by the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons found that about 67 percent of parents admit their child does not wear a mouthguard during organized sports. Many families think the league provides one, or that a mouthguard is only for football. Most youth leagues do not require them outside of football and sometimes lacrosse, so the job of protecting your kid falls to you.
When a hit does happen, the damage is not always obvious right away. A tooth can look fine on the field and start to darken a week later as the nerve dies. That is why we tell parents to treat any face-first fall or collision seriously, and why knowing the signs your child needs to see a dentist matters as much as the guard itself.
Catching a cracked tooth early can mean the difference between a simple bonding and needing a crown later on.
Pro tip: Toss the mouthguard in your kid's sports bag next to the water bottle and clip it to the schedule on the fridge. The guard that lives in a drawer at home protects nobody. The one that travels with the gear gets worn, and a worn guard is the only kind that works.
You have three choices at the store and the dentist, and they are not equal. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry ranks custom-fitted mouthguards as superior in retention, protection, and comfort, with boil-and-bite second and stock guards last. Here is how the three stack up.
Stock mouthguards
Boil-and-bite mouthguards
Custom mouthguards from your dentist
The fit is the whole point. A guard only protects teeth while it is in the mouth, and the number one reason kids spit them out is discomfort. A custom sports mouthguard solves that, which is why it ends up protecting far more games than a cheaper one that lives on the bench. For a child with braces, a custom guard matters even more, because it is built to fit around the brackets without cutting into the lips.
Getting a custom guard is quick and completely painless, which surprises a lot of first-time families. There are no shots and no drilling. Most kids think the molding part is kind of fun.
The visit goes like this. First we take a quick digital scan or a soft mold of your child's teeth, which takes a couple of minutes. Then we pick the thickness and sport level, since a football guard is built heavier than one for basketball. We also match the color, and letting your kid choose their team colors is the easiest way to get a tween to actually wear it. The lab builds the guard to that exact mold, and your child picks it up at a short second visit. We check the fit, trim any high spots, and show them how to clean and store it.
A custom guard from a dentist who knows your child also fits into their regular care. We already see how their teeth are coming in, whether they grind at night, and how their bite is settling. That is a good reason to have one practice handle both the guard and the checkups, and if you are still shopping around, our guide on how to pick a family dentist near you walks through what to look for.
Pairing the guard with regular dental cleanings keeps the whole mouth healthy through a long season.
We serve young athletes and their families across Chatsworth, Canoga Park, Northridge, Porter Ranch, and Granada Hills, and our team is fully bilingual, so Spanish-speaking parents get every detail explained clearly. Fall and spring are our busiest mouthguard seasons, so the start of a sports season is the best time to come in.
A custom sports mouthguard from a dentist usually runs about 150 to 300 dollars, depending on the sport and thickness. That is more than a boil-and-bite guard, and it is worth doing the math on what you are actually buying.
We have seen how one unprotected game can cost a family. A Granada Hills mom brought her 12-year-old son in after he took an elbow during a club soccer match and chipped his front tooth. The bonding and follow-up care came to about 650 dollars, and because it was a front tooth that shows when he smiles, it will likely need touch-ups over the years. A custom guard would have cost around 200 dollars and protected that tooth all season. She had a guard made for his younger sister the same week.
That is the real comparison. One repair of one chipped tooth often costs more than the guard, and a knocked-out tooth costs far more, sometimes leading to a root canal or an implant years later. A mouthguard is cheap insurance against a problem that follows a kid into adulthood.
Think of it the way you think of catching the early signs of a cavity, where a small step now saves a big bill later.
Even with a guard, accidents happen, and a knocked-out permanent tooth is one of the few true dental emergencies where minutes count. If a tooth gets knocked out, pick it up by the crown and never the root, rinse it gently with milk or water without scrubbing, and try to slip it back into the socket if your child is calm enough. If that is not possible, keep it in a cup of milk and get to a dentist right away. A tooth put back within 30 to 60 minutes has the best chance of surviving.
Not every sports injury is that serious, and it helps to know the difference before you are standing on the sideline. Our guide on what counts as a dental emergency and what can wait breaks down the calls parents have to make.
If you are facing one right now, here is exactly how to handle a dental emergency step by step. We keep room in the schedule for urgent visits because we know these things never happen at a convenient time.
As soon as they start any sport with contact or a ball, which for many kids is around age 6 or 7 once the permanent front teeth come in. Those new adult teeth are the ones you want to protect for life. A mouthguard is worth it even in recreational leagues, since most injuries happen in ordinary practice and play, not just big games.
For a growing child, usually one to two sports seasons. Kids' mouths change fast as new teeth come in and jaws grow, so the fit can loosen within a year. We check the guard at regular visits and let you know when it is time for a new one. An adult's custom guard can last several years with good care.
Yes, and it matters even more with braces. A hit to the face can drive the lips into the brackets and cause nasty cuts. A custom guard is built to fit over or around the hardware and protects both the teeth and the soft tissue. Tell us your child has braces and we will make a guard designed for them.
Rinse it with cool water after every use and brush it gently with a toothbrush, then let it air-dry before putting it in a vented case. Keep it out of hot cars and away from pets, which love to chew them. Hot water warps the plastic, so stick to cool water only.
Most do not, outside of football and sometimes lacrosse. That means protecting your child is up to you, even though basketball and soccer cause a large share of dental injuries. Do not wait for a rule to require one, since the mouth is just as worth protecting as the shins or the head.
A custom sports mouthguard is one of the smartest, cheapest moves you can make for a kid who plays. It guards the teeth they will have for life, it costs less than fixing one broken tooth, and it fits well enough that your child will actually wear it. The start of a season is the perfect time to get one made.
Our bilingual team at Angel Smile Dental Group fits custom mouthguards for young athletes all over Chatsworth and the West Valley, and we would love to help your family play safe this year. Book a Free Consultation and let's get your athlete protected before the next game.
