thumb|300px|mouthguard in contact sport  a mouthguard is a protective device for the mouth that covers the teeth and gums to prevent and reduce injury to the teeth, arches, lips and gums. a mouthguard is most often used to prevent injury in contact sports, as a treatment for bruxism or tmd, or as part of certain dental procedures, such as tooth bleaching. depending on application, it may also be called a mouth protector, mouth piece, gumshield, gumguard, nightguard, occlusal splint, bite splint, or bite plane. ==history== the exact origins of the mouthguard are unclear. most evidence indicates that the concept of a mouthguard was initiated in the sport of boxing. originally, boxers fashioned rudimentary mouthguards out of cotton, tape, sponge, or small pieces of wood. boxers clenched the material between their teeth. these boxers had a hard time focusing on the fight and clenching their teeth at the same time.knapik, j. j., marshall, s. w., lee, r. b., darakjy, s. s., jones, s. b., mitchener, t. a., & jones, b. h. (2007). mouthguards in sport activities. sports medicine, 37(2), p.120. since these devices proved impractical, woolf krause, a british dentist, began to fashion mouthpieces for boxers in 1892. krause placed strips of a natural rubber resin, gutta-percha, over the maxillary incisors of boxers before they entered the ring.reed, r. v. (1994). origin and early history of the dental mouthpiece. british dental journal, 176, p. 479. phillip krause, woolf krauseâs son, is often credited with the first reusable mouthpiece. phillip krauseâs invention was highlighted in a 1921 championship fight between jack britton and ted "kid" lewis. lewis was a school friend of krausesâ and the first professional to utilize the new technology, then called a âgum shield.â during the fight, brittonâs manager successfully argued that the mouthpiece was an illegal advantage. philip krause was an amateur boxer himself and undoubtedly used his own device before 1921.knapik et al., 2007, p. 120. there have been other claims to the invention of the mouthguard as well. in the early 1900s, jacob marks created a custom fitted mouthguard in london.pontsa, peter t. (2008). mouth guards prevent dental trauma in sports. the dent-liner 12 (3). an american dentist, thomas a. carlos, also developed a mouth guard at approximately the same time as krause. carlos claimed that he made his first mouthpiece in 1916 and later suggested his invention to the united states olympian dinnie oâkeefe in 1919. another dentist from chicago, e. allen franke, also claimed to have made many mouth guards for boxers by 1919. the mouthguardâs relevance was again brought to the center of attention
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