A mouth guard is essential for athletes who are at a risk of injuring their mouth. The following Buzzle article will tell you how to mold a mouth guard.
If you are someone who is into sports, in which you might injure your mouth, then you should definitely wear a mouth guard. I have seen a few athletes avoid mouth guards, they say that they feel uncomfortable wearing them. They say, the guard irritates them, and distracts them. This is a reason why it is very important to have a mouth guard that fits perfectly in your mouth. In order to have a mouth guard that you feel comfortable wearing, you need to make sure that you mold it right.
How to Mold a Mouth Guard
It is not that difficult to mold a mouth guard, you just need to follow the steps mentioned below:
Step 1
The first thing that you should do is boil water. Take some water in a vessel (enough water so that the mouth guard remains submerged in the water), and boil it. After the water reaches the boiling point, stop heating it. Now, take the mouth guard and carefully put it in the water. See that the hot water does not spatter on you when you put the mouth guard into the vessel. Once you have done that, wait for some time (around 35 to 45 seconds).
Step 2
Take another vessel (see that the vessel is clean), and fill it with cold water. When the waiting time is over, remove the mouth guard from the hot water (do not use your bare hands to remove the mouth guard from the hot water, else you will burn yourself!). Now, immediately put the mouth guard in cold water. Take out the mouth guard after 5 seconds. Instead of using the vessel filled with cold water, you can also place the mouth guard (just removed from the hot water) under a stream of cold water for a few seconds.
Step 3
This is where you mold the mouth guard. After removing the mouth guard, check whether the mouth guard is too hot, if yes, then let it be in the cold water for a few more seconds. Once you feel that you can tolerate the warmth of the mouth guard (I hope that you have not let the guard cool down completely), place it in your mouth. Now, bite the mouth guard, and press it towards your teeth. Continue pressing for a few seconds. The biting and pressing will ensure that the mouth guard molds according to your mouth.
Step 4
This is the finishing touch. Remove the mouth guard from your mouth. You will find that the mouth guard is molded perfectly, but it is still pliant. You might accidentally end up changing the shape of the mouth guard if you do not cool it immediately. So, put the mouth guard in a vessel filled with cold water. I recommend you to do this immediately after you remove the mouth guard from your mouth (so you better keep the cold water filled vessel ready!).
Let the mouth guard stay in the water for sometime (you are not going to need the mouth guard urgently, are you?). Do not be in a hurry to take the mouth guard out of the cold water. After a few minutes, you can remove the mouth guard from the water and inspect it.
If you follow the above steps precisely, then you will have a perfect mouth guard. If you are into contact sports, then you should wear a mouth guard. They will help protect your precious teeth. Make sure that you clean your mouth guard, using a guard cleaner, after you use it. In a game (contact sport), you never know when you are going to get a nasty blow on your mouth, so I recommend you to wear a mouth guard, and prevent serious injuries to your mouth.
Note: Use of mouth guards is not restricted to sports.
