title: Can mouthguards prevent mandibular bone fractures and concussions? A laboratory study with an artificial skull model.
abstract: Some sports' accidents are responsible for inflicting traumatic brain injuries and mandibular bone fractures when impacts occur to the chin. It is often thought that mouth guards can prevent many of these injuries. However, such assertions may be insufficient without adequate research. It is therefore necessary to establish a systematic method of investigation to solve this problem. In the present laboratory study, tests were performed using pendulum impact equipment and an artificial skull model connected to strain gages and accelerometers to simulate and measure the surface distortions related to bone deformation or fractures and the acceleration of the head related to concussions. As impacts, direct blows to the mandibular undersurface were applied. As a result, wearing a mouth guard decreased (P < 0.01) the distortion to the mandibular bone and the acceleration of the head significantly compared with not wearing a mouth guard (54.7%: to the mandible -- measured at a total of three different points, 18.5%: to the head measured at a total of three different points). Within the limits of this study, the following conclusions were drawn: The present measuring system in this study was able to evaluate the distortion to the mandibular and the acceleration of the head from the direct blow to the mandibular undersurface. Mouth guards can reduce distortion to the mandibular and the acceleration of the head from the same blow. So mouth guards might have the possibility to prevent mandibular bone fractures and concussions. However, further well-designed and exhaustive studies are vital to show that mouth guards reduce the incidence of concussions and mandibular bone fractures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sports Dentistry, Tokyo Dental College, Chiba, Japan. takedat@attglobal.net
authors.forename: Tomotaka
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishigami
authors.forename: Sanae
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hoshina
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Handa
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: Tsuneya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: Connell Wayne
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Regner
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003799:Dental Stress Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008337:Mandibular Fractures / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D009064:Mouth Protectors; D012886:Skull / Q000293:injuries; D013314:Stress, Mechanical