SynthesisInternational dental journal2019
Is there enough evidence that mouthguards do not affect athletic performance? A systematic literature review.
Synthesis in International dental journal, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- First aid for sports-related dental trauma: a systematic review of knowledge, attitudes, and educational gaps among physical education students.BMC oral health · 2026Pooled it
- TENS/EMG-guided myocentric mandibular positioning: a systematic review and evidence map.Frontiers in oral health · 2026Pooled it
- Comparison of Shock Absorption Capacities of 3D-Printed Custom-Made Mouthguards: A Comparative In Vitro Study.Dental traumatology : official publication of International Association for Dental Traumatology · 2026Article
- The production and materials of mouthguards: Conventional vs additive manufacturing - A systematic review.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Faculty of sports science students, physical education teachers, and athletes' level of knowledge and attitude about mouthguards.BMC oral health · 2024Article
- Improvement of cervical spine mobility and stance stability by wearing a custom-made mandibular splint in male recreational athletes.PloS one · 2022Article
- Developing the role of the sports dentist.British dental journal · 2021Article
- Development of a Wearable Mouth Guard Device for Monitoring Teeth Clenching during Exercise.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Minimally invasive approach supported by the use of mouthguard in the treatment of sport-related root fracture: a case report.International journal of burns and trauma · 2021Article
- Systematic changes of the static upper body posture with a symmetric occlusion condition.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlthough there is evidence that mouthguards prevent orofacial trauma occurrence during sport practice, the influence of this device on athletic performance has not been systematically quantified.
objectivesWe aim to systematically review the literature to determine the effect of mouthguards on athletic performance and if the type of mouthguard influences this overcome. MATERIALS AND
methodsA comprehensive search was performed in the Systematic Electronic Databases: Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library from their inception to February 2017. The publications were grouped based on their outcome: (i) the use of mouthguards; or (ii) the type of mouthguards. We conducted descriptive analyses and quality assessments of the included studies.
resultsThe search identified 489 citations. After screening the studies, we identified 15 trials comprising a population of 312 athletes. According to the risk of bias evaluation, nine studies were considered 'high' risk of bias, and six 'low' risk of bias. Overall, custom-made mouthguards did not interfere or improve athletes' performance when compared with the control group (without mouthguard). Custom-made mouthguards showed the smallest range of changes in players' performance compared with other types of mouthguards.
conclusionsThis systematic review provides evidence for sports professionals to advocate the use of custom-made mouthguards to prevent injury, and these devices do not impair performance. The scientific evidence should be interpreted carefully because there is a great variability in outcome measures and lack of important methodological details.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.