The use of mouthguards in grappling sports: a survey of grapplers in the United Kingdom.

Background Mouthguards are routinely used in many sports, however their use in grappling sports has not really been examined to date, and to the authors' knowledge, there is no available data on the level of dental trauma experienced by this group.Materials and method The authors approached six different grappling schools, as well as leaving an invite on a grappling event page for volunteers to fill out a short survey.Results Around 81 respondents took part in the survey, with nearly 25% reporting that they never wore a mouthguard during grappling, and less than 50% not wearing a mouthguard all the time. Sixty-three percent of respondents had either seen dental and peri-oral injuries, or had experienced dental injuries as a result of grappling.Conclusion More work is needed to investigate whether mouthguards have a positive effect on the dental injury experience, and to establish the percentage of grapplers who at some point will be affected by dental trauma.