title: Rugby athletes' awareness and compliance in the use of mouthguards in the North West of Italy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The prevention of dental injuries during full-contact sports such as rugby is extremely important. Wearing a mouthguard can significantly reduce the frequency and severity of orofacial injuries, but it is not always used as athletes find it difficult to tolerate. The purpose of the present study was to determine the awareness and the extent of mouthguard use in a sample of young rugby athletes in the North West of Italy.
  
  
  METHODS
  The athletes of four amateurs rugby teams based in the Province of Turin, Italy completed a questionnaire about playing history, current use and type of mouthguards, disturbs associated with mouthguard use, and general attitudes towards mouthguards.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Only 53.85% of the subjects reported wearing their mouthguard all the time both during training and games. The most commonly reported problem associated with using a mouthguard was the discomfort on speech, followed by difficulty in closing lips, adversely affected breathing, adversely affected swallowing and slipping sensation. A statistically significant association between patients <22 years and non-use of mouthguards was observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Limited knowledge about oral injury prevention and limited use of mouthguards were observed. The present study suggests that educational courses for rugby players and coaches to promote the use of mouthguards would be extremely important to reduce common complaints about these devices and increase their usage.
authors.affiliation: Division of Maxillofacial Surgery, Head and Neck Department, San Giovanni Battista Hospital, University of Turin, Corso Dogliotti 14, Turin, Italy. paolo.boffano@gmail.com
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boffano
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boffano
authors.forename: Cesare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gallesio
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Roccia
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cignetti
authors.forename: Raimondo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Piana
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D056352:Athletes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005538:Football; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008446:Maxillofacial Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009064:Mouth Protectors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D018677:Tooth Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D055815:Young Adult