In the vicious and often-violent world of combat sports, a custom-fit mouthguard is a small but powerful piece of protective equipment that can prevent some impact injuries from occurring and lessen the severity of others that it cannot protect from.

Whilst it can be difficult at times to appreciate the level of protection a mouthguard can provide, particularly with the highly-publicised double broken jaw of celebrity boxer Jake Paul that stopped him from even light sparring for eight months, a proper mouthguard stopped this injury from getting worse.

With that in mind, it is worth exploring what a mouthguard does to protect you during combat sports and how it achieves this.

How Does A Mouthguard Protect Your Teeth?

Mouthguards were designed to protect your teeth, and for the most part, they have become effective at significantly reducing the number of serious dental injuries caused during boxing matches.

Returning to Jake Paul Vs Anthony Joshua, whilst the former received a double broken jaw, he lost far fewer of his teeth than he would have done had he not worn a mouthpiece, as clenching your teeth helps to spread the impact of a punch.

How Does A Mouthguard Stop Cuts?

The reason why mouthguards were initially invented was to stop fight-ending cuts, particularly ones to the lips and gums, which could flood the mouth with blood and risk the health of fighters.

The turning point of this was the 1927 fight between Jack Sharkey and Mike McTigue, which ended in the 12th round because McTigue suffered a chipped tooth that caused a serious cut in his mouth. By the 1930s, governing bodies mandated mouthguards for professional fights.

As a cut is a dangerous situation which forces a doctor to stop a fight, mouthguards which protect the teeth and stop any damage from lacerating the gums or the lips are essential for protecting both fighters and ensuring a competitive contest.