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The effect of mouthguard design on respiratory function in athletes
Dieter P Gebauer1, Raymond A Williamson, Karen E Wallman
1School of Dentistry, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
Objective:
To test the hypothesis that 2 types of custom-made mouthguards will have no effect on ventilation (.V(E), L·min⁻¹), oxygen uptake (.VO₂, mL·kg⁻¹·min·⁻¹), and heart rate (beats per minutes) at varying exercise intensities (10 km·h⁻¹ and 12 km·h⁻¹) and at subjective maximal effort (.VO₂peak) in male field hockey and water polo players.
Design:
A randomized, prospective, crossover study.
Setting:
The Physiology Testing Laboratory, School of Sports Science, Exercise and Health at the University of Western Australia, a tertiary educational institution.
Participants:
Twenty-seven male team-sport athletes.
Interventions:
Each athlete participated in 3 experimental exercise sessions separated by 1-week intervals. Testing involved a graded exercise test (GXT) performed on a treadmill wearing either a custom laminated mouthguard with normal palatal surface, a custom laminated mouthguard with palatal coverage up to the gingival margin, or no mouthguard. The experimental trials were performed in a random counterbalanced order.
Main Outcome Measures:
.V(E) (L·min⁻¹) and .VO₂ (mL·kg⁻¹·min·⁻¹) were measured during the GXT at intensities that equated to 10 km·h⁻¹, 12 km·h⁻¹ and subjective maximal effort (.VO₂peak).
Results:
There were no significant differences between trials for .V(E) (L·min⁻¹) and .VO₂ (mL·kg⁻¹·min·⁻¹) at any of the intensities assessed (P < 0.05).
Conclusions:
The wearing of 2 different custom-made mouthguards during a GXT did not impair .V(E) or .VO₂ during varying levels of exercise intensity in team sport athletes.
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