Compliance of children and youngsters in the use of mouthguards 11/13/09

LUTHERAN MEDICAL CENTER
Dental Residency Program
Literature Review Form

Resident: Murphy Date: 11/12/09 Region: Prov.
Article title: Compliance of Children and youngsters in the use of mouthguards
Author(s): Matalon, Vered. Ilana Brin, et al
Journal: Dental Traumatology
Volume #; Number; Page #s): 24. 462-467
Year: 2008
Major topic: Children’s compliance wearing mouthguards during sports
Minor topic(s): Parents understanding of why a mouthguard is necessary
Type of Article: Clinical Study, Survey
Main Purpose: Assess why children do or do not wear their mouthguards.
Overview of method of research: Originally, 80 children were chosen for the study. The only criteria were that they have fully erupted incisors(they did not specify which incisors). The mean age was of the children was 12.7. There were 42 boys, 27 girls, and 21 of the children were siblings. A year later, 69 children and their parents completed a survey to gain information on terms of compliance regarding the appliance.

Findings: A mouthguard can be defined as a resilient appliance placed inside the mouth to protect against injuries to the teeth, lacerations to the mouth, fractures, and dislocations of the jaw. There is also evidence that they can protect against concussion and injury to the cervical spine. 26% of all oral injuries are a result of sports. According to the study, only 27% of athletes are aware that mouthguards should be worn, and only 3% reported using a mouthguard. In terms of compliance, 29% said they never wore it, 32 percent said they wore it sometimes, 23 percent said when they first got it they wore it all the time, but not so much anymore, and 16% wore it all the time. Reasons for not wearing the appliance were numerous, with the three most common being, ‘I forget to wear it’, it’s not comfortable’(55% said this), and ‘I’m embarrassed to wear it because none of my friends wear one’. 32% of the children lost their appliance. 4.5% lost the appliance after one week, 36.4% after a month, and 59.1% more than a month. With regards to the parents, 46% stated that using a mouthguard is essential, 40% didn’t know if it was helpful, and 6.3% said it was unnecessary. Additionally, 37.5% of parents thought that asking the child to use it was unrealistic. 77% said that their children did not previously have a mouthguard because they didn’t know it was available. Also, 47.9% said their dentist never offered them one.

Summary of conclusions: There are three predictors that the study focused on. Gender, boys are more likely to wear the appliance, age, younger children are less likely to wear the appliance, and sibling position, children that were born later in the sibling order were less likely to comply. Most children who didn’t use their mouthguards did so because of forgetfulness(45%) or discomfort(42%). History of family oral trauma did not increase parent’s awareness of mouthguard importance. More than half of the parents said that their child did not have a mouth guard because their dentist or physician never told them about it. After one year, 68% of the children still had their mouthguard, but a third of them never used it.

Assessment of article: Overall a very good article with relevant facts regarding the use and compliance of mouthguards with respect to children. The take home message is offer mouthguards to your patients, and the younger they are, the lower they are on the sibling tree, and whether they’re a boy or a girl will give you a fairly good idea if they’re going to wear it….or “lose it" before they reach the parking lot.