Hockey is a fast paced sport where pieces of vulcanized rubber fly around in excess of 100 miles per hour and carbon fiber sticks can come whipping up at your face at any moment. Add to that many players are playing in a contact league where jaw injuries and concussions are a real thing, and the idea of wearing a mouth guard seems almost as crucial as any other piece of equipment.
You’ve probably seen them before, infamously hanging out of the mouths of your favorite NHL players (always seems to be the small, shifty guys with soft hands).
If you’re looking for more great articles on head protection, check out our top hockey helmets article so you can make an informed decision on buying a helmet!
In this article we will break down the main reasons for wearing a mouthguard, followed by in depth reviews of our top picks for all types of players. Take a look at our comparison table below and then read on for all the nitty gritty details!
The Best Hockey Mouthguards
1. Shock doctor nano 3D - Best Overall Hockey Mouthguard
Specifications and Features:
- Slim fit sizing – This mouthguard is on average about 1/3 smaller than most mouthguards. This allows for less interference with your breathing and no impairment of your breathing.
- Shock Frame and Nano Inner Wall – These features together will protect your teeth, jaw, and brain by evenly distributing and damping impacts.
- $10,000 Warranty – You can have peace of mind knowing that you are protected physically and financially when wearing the shock doctor nano 3D.
BOTTOM LINE:
What Shock Doctor has created here is a top of the line mouthguard, and the features show why. It is smaller than other mouthguards making it more comfortable to you, all while maintaining superior protection. Shock Doctor then further backs up their claim to the throne by offering a $10,000 dollar dental warranty if you suffer dental damage while properly wearing their mouthguard. No matter which way you cut it, they don’t make them much better than this.
2. Under Armour ArmourBite - Best Value Hockey Mouthguard
Specifications and Features:
- ArmourBite Technology with Power Wedges – Under Armour has created this technology to improve the strength and durability of the mouth guard. It also helps maintain spacing between your teeth to counteract clenching if you are prone to this.
- ArchFit System – The arch fit system allows the mouth guard to conform to your individual bite and mouth arch to minimize its interference with your speaking and allows easy breathing.
- $32,000 Warranty – Nothing much else to say here, a fantastic warranty incase the mouth guard fails at its job to protect your teeth.
BOTTOM LINE:
Leveraging their deep knowledge in contact sports such as Hockey and Football, Under Armour has designed the ArmourBite to exceed all of your expectations when it comes to mouth protection. The Power Wedges create perfect spacing to prevent clenching from damaging your teeth. What is the first thing you do when you see a big hit coming or a puck coming for your head? Clench up – and that includes your mouth. The ArchFit system helps give the mouthguard a natural feel in your mouth so that you never hesitate to toss it in. A fantastic $32,000 dollar warranty comes with the mouthguard to put any financial fears at ease so you can focus on your main goal, going bar down.
3. Shock Doctor Ultra Double Braces - Best Hockey Mouthguard For Braces
Specifications and Features:
- Ortho Channel – Allows the mouthguard to fit around both upper and lower teeth and braces
- Medical Grade Silicone – If its good enough to be in the hospital, its good enough to be in your mouth! No boiling required!
- Adapts to changing tooth position – Shock Doctor made this mouthguard extra spacious in order to plan ahead for your changing bite. Most mouthguards you would need a new one with every adjustment but this one will last throughout your orthodontic procedure.
- $10,000 Warranty – You know what is more expensive than teeth? Teeth with expensive braces installed on them! Play with no fear thanks to Shock Doctors $10,000 dollar dental warranty
BOTTOM LINE:
From the same company who brought you our #1 overall mouth guard, comes this perfectly engineered product designed to protect not only your teeth, jaw, and brain, but your braces too! Straightening teeth and fixing bites is no easy task so don’t complicate it by taking any blows to the teeth. Being fitted over your braces, this mouth guard will be the most intrusive in your mouth and hard to speak with, but that is to be expected given what it is protecting. You also get to enjoy a $10,000 dollar dental warranty in case the Shock Doctor doesn’t perform as advertised.
4. Under Armour Gameday Armour Pro - Best Budget Mouthguard
Specifications and Features:
- Low Profile – Designed to not fill your mouth up while still protecting teeth
- Bite Flex and Armour Plate – These are two of Under Armours technologies that help to absorb impact energy and improve protection for your teeth and jaw.
BOTTOM LINE:
If you’re looking for a reputable mouthguard that won’t break the bank, the Gameday Armour Pro is a great choice! Economic but still a great option to keep those teeth intact!
5. GuardLab Apex - Best Shock Absorbing Mouthguard
Specifications and Features:
- TraumaShield – 150% more shock absorbent material compared to a typical rubber
- Patent Pending Design – GuardLab has a patent pending for their pre-indentation technology which leads to a more comfortable fit
- Dental Grade Materials – GuardLab uses the same materials a dentist would, at a fraction of the price (plus saving the dentist visit!)
BOTTOM LINE:
A great budget option, GuardLab prides themselves on a fantastic fitting mouthguard. They have patents pending on their fitment technology, and use dentist quality materials to ensure you get a great performing mouthguard!
Mouthguard Basics
The mouthguard has a few key responsibilities and we will break them down for you below.
Protecting Your Teeth
I’ve seen everything from a chipped tooth, to 8 teeth on the ice from deflected pucks or errant sticks. The mouthguards primary function and the one it does best is protecting your pearly whites from some expensive damage. Consider that $20 to $50 dollars could save you or your parents thousands in dental bills, not to mention the excruciating pain that comes with it. Lets be honest, unless you are on an NHL bench, missing a few of your front teeth isn’t the look you want to go for.
Protecting Your Jaw
The game of hockey has made great strides in recent years to reduce head injuries by heavily penalizing headshots. That being said, with a game as fast as hockey sometimes accidents do happen and your head can get hit. The mouthguard also acts as a shock absorber and can reduce jaw and teeth injuries resulting from an impact suffered on the front of your face.
Do Mouthguards Prevent Concussions?
Concussion prevention is paramount in our day and age. From football to hockey, and even to sports like soccer, brain health and CTE are putting impacts to the head under a microscope. To date there are no studies showing that mouthguards can actually prevent concussions, but one thing is forsure, they can only have a positive impact compared to not wearing one. A study was once performed in 1967 showing that suffering a blow to the chin while wearing a mouthguard lowered cranial pressure increase by up to 50%. If that doesn’t convince you that mouthguards will help protect you from head injuries then I am not sure what will!
Conclusion
I hope by this point we have convinced you that a mouth guard is as critical a piece of equipment as anything else you wear when you skate out on the ice. By purchasing one of these items you are not only protecting your jaw and brain from serious shock forces, but also protecting your wallet from extremely high dental bills that can come from losing teeth on the ice.
