Are swimmers missing out on performance enhancing mouthwear? A Jockology article led me to investigate the possibility a “performance enhancing mouthpiece” for swimming.
What is a performance enhancing mouthpiece?
The theory behind possible performance gains comes from jaw position and the compression of the temperomandibular (TM) joint. According to UnderArmour’s consumer brochure, you have a natural “fight or flight” reaction to clench your jaw during physical activity. This jaw-clenching compresses the TM joing, which then causes a “release of excess amounts of performance-sapping hormones (like cortisol) that produce stress, fatigue and distraction.”
The mouthpiece separates the teeth in a way to position the jaw to decrease compression of the TM joint. In theory, “unlocking” the jaw will then decreases the release of stress hormones, which will be less of a hindrance on performance.
Since When Do Swimmers Wear Mouthguards?
They don’t. But the snorkel mouthpiece is the closest thing to a mouthguard – which is why, if the proposed performance benefits of such an accessory can be proven, incorporating these types of mouthpieces into training could be beneficial. Also, since swimmers are allowed to wear nose clips and ear plugs in competition, it seems reasonable that a mouthpiece would also be permitted.
According to literature provided by UnderArmour, these custom made mouthpieces aren’t just for sports requiring a mouth guard. In fact, swimming (among other non-contact sports) was specifically mentioned in the consumer brochure as an activity that could benefit from the performance enhancing qualities of the mouthpiece.
What Benefits Are Reported?
UnderArmour literature reports that their mouthwear endured independent testing conducted at some of the nation
5 Comments:
I'm a triathlete and I wear my UA mouthpiece in training and competition. I noticed that I'm stronger and a lot more flexible when I use the mouthpiece – no more shoulder problems! Apparently a large number of athletes use the UA piece (including Chris McCormack and Sarah Haskins). Bite Tech, the company behind the UA mouthpiece has a Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bite-Tech/219287976313
It might sound too good to be true, but it's definitely working for me!
Ken
Genial brief and this fill someone in on helped me alot in my college assignement. Say thank you you as your information.
Thanks for covering this, Eric! I’ve worked for Bite Tech for 7 years and have seen the evolution of this technology first-hand.
New scientific claims are always subject to skepticism, and for good reason. Part of the challenge of developing a scientific breakthrough is how you share that with the world so that they give it a fair look. Having world-class, professional standards in place for your research and testing is crucial, but even if you show clear evidence in those, then people will clamor for “independent” research. People want to know that the results you got are repeatable by anyone else.
But how do you get others to spend time and money to research things that only you care and know about? You can’t help fund it or it loses its “independence”.
I think the approach we’ve taken is to encourage others to do independent testing of the claims we’re making. In the meanwhile, we know what we’ve uncovered is real, untapped and has made us the world-leader in performance enhancing oral appliances. Our research has been published in peer reviewed scientific journals, like Compedium.
As for swimming, the lower appliance, the performance mouthpiece, not mouthguard, would be the best one recommended for swimmers. All the performance benefits without the added material of a mouthguard, with perfect retention and working with gravity sitting on your lower teeth. I can imagine that the results for swimmers with our product would be dramatic. I hope to hear more on it.
Shaan, thank you for your comments!
[...] evidence. I’ve shared my skepticism of several other products over the years, including mouthpieces for swimmers, Kinesio tape, and unregulated dietary supplements. The burden of proof lies with the companies [...]
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