An evaluation of compliance in the use of mouth protection devices (Mgs) in a group of young athletes

Introduction: The use of mouth guards is strongly recommended in a number of sports, and there are numerous works in the relevant literature that stress the effectiveness and importance of using personal Mouth Guards (M.Gs.) It is also common knowledge that persuading people, especially young children, to use these protective devices regularly is not an easy task. Aim:This study has aimed to establish whether or not the use of an electronic system measuring frequency of use, installed directly in the Mouth guard, will encourage young sportspeople to use these devices without the need for continuous motivational reinforcement The appliance used is known as Thera Mon and is a Class I Medical Device. Thera Mon is an electronic system which provides constant documentation of the actual wearing time of removable appliances. Materials and methods: We carried out a preliminary observational study on the behavior manifested by a group of 12 young males who wore mouth guards equipped with the electronic measuring system four times a week for nine months, without any external motivational reinforcement being provided. The procedure used to produce the mouth-guards was the traditional Tecnica Erkodent for the Medium three-layer model of the Play safe teeth-guard line. Results: We found that all the young sports-people had remained in the screening program. Specifically, 7 participants had continued to use their mouth guards regularly (4 times a week), 3 had used their devices not more than three times a week and 2 used theirs only during competition events. Conclusion: These findings show that the use of these devices does not influence participants’ attitude to wearing them. Indeed, they demonstrated a willingness to use them regularly and we believe that particularly in the case of young children who practice sports, it is a method that can replace or provide a valid alternative to the established motivational reinforcement methods that may at times be unreliable.