Use of mouthguard rates among university athletes during sport activities in Erzurum, Turkey

The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes of mouthguard users in Erzurum, Turkey. The participants' appreciation in the use of protective devices, such as mouthguards, during sport activities was also evaluated. In this study, a 10-item questionnaire was distributed to 50 coaches and a 10-item questionnaire was distributed to 768 university athletes of three different sport modalities (basketball, soccer and volleyball) in the Ataturk University Sport Competitions. The Sport Competitions are composed of 20 faculty, except the faculty of dentistry. The result of the coaches' questionnaires indicated that none of the athletes used mouthguards while participating in sports. Of the coaches, 64% had seen orofacial trauma in their athletes during sport activities and 76% believed that mouthguards prevented oral injuries. Of the coaches, 76% reported that university athletes should use mouthguards in sport activities. The result of the university athletes' questionnaires revealed that the mouthguard utilization rate was 0%. Of all players, 78.1% were males (age 17-29) and 21.9% were females (age 18-23). Of all players, 7.31% had suffered from one or more type of oral injury while not wearing mouthguards. The results indicate that in Turkey, the use of mouthguards is rare in sports. It should be a combined duty of dentists, sports physicians, and coaches to encourage the use of mouthguards during training and sport activities. Doctors and dentists need to recommend a more intensive education of students in sports medicine and sports dentistry.