@article{ref1,
title="Is there enough evidence that mouthguards do not affect athletic performance? A systematic literature review",
journal="International dental journal",
year="2019",
author="Ferreira, Gustavo Barbosa and Guimarães, Ludmila Silva and Fernandes, Claudio Pinheiro and Dias, Reinaldo Brito and Coto, Neide Pena and Antunes, Lívia Azeredo A. and Antunes, Leonardo Santos",
volume="69",
number="1",
pages="25-34",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Although 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. <br><br>OBJECTIVES: We aim to systematically review the literature to determine the effect of mouthguards on athletic performance and if the type of mouthguard influences this overcome. <br><br>MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 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. <br><br>RESULTS: The 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. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: This 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.<br><br>© 2018 FDI World Dental Federation.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0020-6539",
doi="10.1111/idj.12406",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/idj.12406"
}