Your Jaw’s Surprising Talent

Evidence is beginning to suggest that your jaw may be linked to athletic prowess.

Pure Power Mouthguard and Under Armour Performance Mouthwear are placing their bets on the marriage between modern medicine and athletic performance. In their competitive race to become the first to the finish line in their pursuit of greatness, the latest fruit of their labor is a mouthguard whose alleged properties help the elite athlete to function at peak capacity. Both companies claim that athletes who invest in these custom mouthguards will benefit from increased balance, endurance, and strength. With the fine line that lies between success and failure in the athletic environment, where athletes at all levels are looking for any edge over their competitors, these two performance apparel companies might be onto something after all.

But is this simply a classic case of mind over body, or do these mouthguards actually have some bark to their bite?

This new class of mouthguards stands on the shoulders of neuromuscular repositioning. A detailed article on the science can be found in the Aug. 13 edition on Dental Economics, entitled Patterson Dental teams up with Under Armour. The premise of the philosophy is that these mouthguards reposition the jaw such that it causes a decrease in the amount of tightening that naturally occurs during stressful athletic activity. In turn, this results in decreased production of stress hormones such as cortisol, which is known to decrease muscle strength and muscular endurance.

Patterson Dental is hoping that their partnership with Under Armor will help them to penetrate the burgeoning performance apparel market. At the same time, they’ve hedged their bets by also penetrating the potential providers of these custom mouthguards by setting up kits for dental practitioners to invest in and train with. It might be a good idea to keep an eye on developments, both on the field and in our dental offices.