Sports and Mouthguards With Braces: What to Wear

Quick answer

Wear an orthodontic mouthguard, designed to sit over braces without moulding onto them, for any contact, collision or ball sport: hockey, soccer, basketball, rugby, football, lacrosse, martial arts, skateboarding and mountain biking included. A standard boil-and-bite guard can lock onto brackets and pull them off when removed, and does not adapt as teeth move. Aligner wearers take the trays out for contact sport and wear a standard guard; keep the case in the kit bag. After a hit, check for loose brackets, bleeding and any tooth that has moved; a displaced or knocked-out tooth needs a dentist within the hour.

Which guard

Mouthguard options with braces
Type	Works with braces?	Notes
Orthodontic mouthguard (ready-made, silicone)	Yes	Designed with a channel that sits over brackets without moulding to them; adapts as teeth move; inexpensive; replace when it no longer fits well or is chewed
Boil-and-bite (standard)	No	Moulds onto brackets and can pull them off when removed; sets to one tooth position and stops fitting as teeth move
Custom (dentist-made)	Partly	Excellent fit but made to one tooth position; expensive to remake every few months during treatment; better after debond
Stock (no moulding)	Poor	Loose, bulky, hard to breathe with; better than nothing on the day you forgot

Which sports

Guard required: hockey, ringette, lacrosse, rugby, football, soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball (batting and fielding), field hockey, martial arts, boxing, wrestling, water polo, skateboarding, BMX and mountain biking, skiing and snowboarding in a park.
Guard sensible: gymnastics, cheerleading, climbing, trampolining, dance with lifts.
No guard needed: swimming, running, cycling on the road, tennis (though a ball to the mouth is not unknown), gym, yoga.

Both arches or upper only? Most guards cover the upper teeth. With lower braces, a lower guard or a double guard protects the lower lip from lower brackets; ask the clinic what suits the sport.

After a hit to the mouth

Was a tooth knocked out, pushed in, or moved so the bite feels wrong?
- Yes: A dental emergency, not an orthodontic one. Find the tooth, hold it by the crown, keep it in milk or in the cheek, and get to a dentist or emergency department within the hour. Do not try to reposition anything against the wire. Call the orthodontist afterwards.
- No: Continue below.
Is there bleeding from the lip or cheek where brackets cut it?
- Yes, but it stops with pressure: Rinse with cold water, apply pressure with clean gauze for ten minutes, then wax over the brackets involved. Salt-water rinses for a few days. A cut that gapes or will not stop bleeding needs a physician.
- No: Continue below.
Are any brackets loose, or is the wire bent or out of place?
- Yes: Wax anything sharp and book a repair this week. Loose bracket or poking wire.
- No: Check again the next day for tenderness on one tooth or a grey colour change; either needs a visit.

Aligners and sport

Aligners give a little protection but are not a mouthguard. For contact sport, take the trays out and wear a standard boil-and-bite guard: with no brackets to catch, the usual objection to a boil-and-bite guard does not apply. A long tournament day with the trays out for hours counts against the 20-hour rule, so plan the day around it rather than the other way round. Keep the case in the sports bag; trays wrapped in a towel get lost.

Swimming, gym, dance

Swimming is fine; nothing about braces or aligners reacts to chlorine. Gym is fine; heavy lifting with clenching can be uncomfortable in the sore days after an adjustment. Dance and gymnastics with lifts or apparatus benefit from a guard. Brass and wind players have their own guide: playing instruments with braces.

Why this matters clinically

Dental bodies in Canada and the United States recommend mouthguards for contact and collision sports because they substantially reduce dental injuries. With braces the stakes are higher: brackets concentrate impact on the lips and cheeks, and a knocked bracket or bent wire interrupts treatment. The orthodontic guard's channel design is what lets it protect without gluing itself to the hardware.

Questions people ask

Can I use my old boil-and-bite mouthguard with braces?

No. It moulds onto the brackets and can pull them off, and it stops fitting as teeth move. Buy an orthodontic guard; they are inexpensive.

Do I need a mouthguard for soccer?

Yes. Elbows, heads and balls to the face are common. Most youth leagues require one.

Can I play sport in the sore days after an adjustment?

Yes. A guard may feel more uncomfortable than usual for a couple of days. Contact sport with a guard is fine.

References

Canadian Dental Association. Position on sports mouthguards and injury prevention. https://www.cda-adc.ca/
American Dental Association Council on Access, Prevention and Interprofessional Relations. Using mouthguards to reduce the incidence and severity of sports-related oral injuries. Journal of the American Dental Association 2006;137(12):1712-1720. https://doi.org/10.14219/jada.archive.2006.0118
American Association of Orthodontists. Handling orthodontic emergencies at home. Consumer guidance. https://aaoinfo.org/

Guildford Orthodontic Centre

A specialist orthodontic practice in Guildford where Dr. Aly Kanani and Dr. Aida Mesbahi, both Certified Specialists in Orthodontics, provide braces, Invisalign and growth-appliance treatment for children, teens and adults.

The complimentary first visit includes an examination, photographs and a digital scan, with radiographs when indicated, and ends with a written plan and quote. Braces adjustments, aligner checks, emergency visits and retainer follow-up all happen at the same Guildford office.

Sports and mouthguards with braces: what to wear for which sport