Custom made mouthguards are available in a variety of colours. Mouthguards can be claimed on most dental insurance plans. A custom made mouthguard is made by taking an impression of the players top teeth. A plaster cast is then made from this impression. A sheet of mouthguard material is softened in boiling water and moulded under vacuum onto the plaster cast. Then it is trimmed and polished. A child will need a new mouthguard roughly every 6 to 12 months because their mouth is changing shape so quickly. An adult might get 2 or 3 years out of one. The so called boil and bite mouthguards from chemists and sport shops are not recommended simply because they do not fit and the protection they offer is minimal.
