Biting the Competitive Edge
How Scientific Mouthguards Improve Athletic Performance
By G. Lee Ostler DDS

Imagine yourself at the awards ceremony where the newly crowned champ is making his acceptance speech. He concludes by saying “… and I’d like to thank my parents for their support, my coach for his discipline, my chiropractor for helping me with my back, my podiatrist for correcting my feet, and my dietitian for the great food. But most of all” he says, reaching into his mouth and removing a plastic mouthguard and waving it in front of the crowd, “I have to thank my dentist. Without this I couldn’t have done it!”

Dentist? Yes!

Farfetched? NO! … at least not if the users and proponents of a new athletic mouthguard have their way!

While the science behind it is anything but simple, the reason for its surging popularity is – it works! And it’s beginning to enjoy significant and widespread acceptance and publicity throughout the world of sports.

In fact, many world class professional athletics and a growing army of amateur athletes around the world are quickly discovering that it gives them added strength, balance and endurance. The Beijing summer games saw the first Olympic athletes using the mouthguard, as well as an increasing number of players this year in the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, professional martial arts, and the world of golf, to name a few. While the results are seriously impressive and nothing to joke about, the joke in the training rooms and locker rooms is that its’ better than steroids!

As the story about the PPM advantage is being picked up by the media, and as top players use and endorse it, it is becoming one of the biggest stories in sports. Soon, it will be become the standard in high school, college, and professional level sports, as well as in personal training and exercise. Consider these headlines:

• A Mouthpiece to Replace Steroids? – iSteroids Blog.
• Better Bite For Manny – The Boston Herald; NBC News Boston
• Manny’s Magic Mouthguard – The Boston Globe
• Terrell Owens from the Dallas Cowboys Using the PPM Mouthguard – Fox Sports
• The PPM Mouthguard – Technology To Help With High Performance – Hockeyresumes.com
• Dr. Scott Wagner Gives Athletes The Edge – Jacksonville News
• Can Dentistry Boost Athletes? – The Florida Times Union Newspaper
• Chew On This: A Better Bite Makes a Better Athlete. - CNBC
• The Pure Power Edge Mouthguard gives Athletes the Edge – Channel 4 news, Jacksonville FA
• A Performance Enhancer That Even Senator George Mitchell Should Approve - Reuters

It’s little wonder why this new protective and performance enhancing mouthguard is called “The Pure Power Mouthguard”, and is nicknamed simply - “The Edge!”

To be sure, this is not your ordinary mouthguard! Upon close inspection this new mouthguard will literally make your jaw drop! That’s because it positions the jaw into a position which increases the power and balance of the upper body.

According to advocates of the Pure Power Mouthguard the jaw joint and dental bite are important strength and balance points of body power. If either the jaw joint or dental bite are out of alignment or if the jaws and neck muscles are not balanced properly (conditions that are very common in many people), the body will try to compensate for this imbalance and sensory distraction. Simply put, the adaptive compensation in faulty jaw & neck posture can sap muscle strength and decrease athletic performance and stamina.

Some skeptics are not so quick to embrace the PPM, mostly because they either haven’t tried one themselves or because they are reading old science! Sadly, the conclusions from older research on mouthguards are often irrelevant since they couldn’t (or didn’t) take into account new understandings in muscle physiology, neurology, and the neuromuscular principles not available then. Also, they didn’t have (or use) computers and electronic instrumentation which are required to properly confirm a rested and stable jaw position.

Other critics cite the higher cost for the Pure Power Mouthguard and its newness to the scientific scene as their reasons for holding back. However, these objections quickly vanish when they see and feel the evidence of their disadvantage against the competition. As their teammates and competitors prove their advantage, they will suddenly understand the true costs of giving anything away to the competition; they will be the first in line for their own PPM.

Mouthguard History

The predecessor of today’s Pure Power Mouthguard actually had its beginnings many years ago. It was noticed by leading dentists and trainers that therapeutic TMJ bite splints (used for people with headaches, facial pain and TMJ jaw-joint problems) not only solved jaw joint problems, but also improved strength, balance and sports performance.

The original “power” mouthguards were actually a medical device used by dentists to treat temporomandibular problems (“TMJ”). One in particular is called the MORA (mandibular orthopedic repositioning appliance). As people discovered the improvements not only in treatment, but also in athletic performance, they began using it to stabilize the jaw and increase power and balance in the body during personal training and athletics.

Today, using more sophisticated techniques, these treatment appliances have been modified and repurposed to be used as precision athletic mouth appliances that better stabilize the bite and jaw joint position beneath the skull.

While “regular” custom-made or boil-and-bite mouthguards can protect against blunt injury, they can’t compare to today’s “power” mouthguards. This is because they manually manipulate and arbitrarily support the jaw without regard to the neuromuscular principles which govern strength and muscle coordination in the body. This means they can actually hinder or worsen athletic performance by holding the jaw in a fatigued or strength compromising position. What’s worse is that they can cause unnecessary damage to joints and muscles, to say nothing of injuries due to diminished agility, balance and stamina.

On the other hand, Pure Power Mouthguards both protect AND support the jaw in a position favorable to the body which allows for better muscle fiber recruitment and strength.

It was only natural that these advancements in neuromuscular science have yielded such a device. In today’s competitive world of sports, athletes, trainers and coaches are very serious about achieving superior performance. They work and play in a world where success and winning can be measured by as little as a split-second, a single point, or a fraction of an inch. Indeed, million dollar salaries, scholarships, and the prestige of being the best are all on the line and demand that every advantage is gained in every (legal) way possible. It’s not a slip of the tongue that some have dubbed the PPM mouthguard, “legal steroids!”

This is why athletes around the world are beginning to take seriously this new mouthguard, and are now considering it as necessary sports equipment for an expanding number of athletic applications. That’s because athletes, trainers and coaches don’t just want something that protects the teeth and jaw joints and prevents concussions, they want something that also provides better balance, strength, range-of-motion, endurance – and winning!

Pure Power Mouthguard Science

There is a significant amount of science behind the development and use of the PPM mouthguard. Advancements in the emerging discipline of neuromuscular dentistry have allowed dentists to modify and repurpose today’s medical treatment appliances for TMJ therapy to be used in the non-therapeutic recreational roles for sports and personal training.

The scientific principles which underlie the PPM mouthguard comprise a three-part equation: 1)- the unique anatomy of the jaw joint; 2)- the anatomical jaw-to-skull relationship; and 3)- the “neuromuscular component” - muscles which power movement and stability of the jaws, and how the nervous system controls all of the above.

When all parts of this equation are properly balanced, aligned and supported (i.e. when the jaw is properly braced beneath the base of the skull) then any physical activity which requires strength, endurance, balance, range-of-motion, coordination, speed and quick response is benefited.

The science behind this concept is both simple and complex; simple because in a common-sense way it describes how “body parts” work together physically and neurologically, and complex because it defines how the nervous system and muscles operate to support the functional demands of movement, reflex, and balance in the body. Knowing this science helps explain why the PPM provides a strategic athletic advantage to the user, and also why improperly positioned mouthguards (or not using a PPM) work against the body to degrade and compromise athletic performance.

Jaw Joint

Unlike other joints in the body, the jaw joint is a very unique joint. This is because the lower jaw is a single “U” shaped bone that crosses the mid-line (at the chin) and is controlled by different sets of muscles and nerves operating on both sides of the head. The upper ends (condyle) of each end of the jaw bone fits underneath the temporal bone of the skull directly in front of each ear. The jaw bone “articulates” or moves within the joint space to provide the open/close movements of the jaw.

Because of this unique anatomy it means that in addition to the jaw moving through the three basic planes of space (vertical, left-right, forward-backward), it also has movement in the directions of Pitch, Yaw and Roll (think of an airplane’s orientation as it flies through the air). Adding these three additional “planes” of movement to the first three, creates a total of six planes of movement that the mandible can operate in as it functions beneath the base of the skull.

Contrary to early beliefs the mouth does not simply open around a “hinge-axis” similar to a door swinging on its hinge. In point of fact the mandible both hinges open AND also moves forward and down as the mouth opens. (Check this out on your own jaw by putting the pad of your finger tips directly in front of your ear and open/close the jaw. You will feel a depression develop which your finger will fall into as your jaw joint moves forward and down while opening. It can also be felt by putting your finger inside the outer ear canal and pressing forward while opening.) Additionally, and just as importantly, when the muscles are properly relaxed, the mandible can and may drop slightly, meaning that the jaw can sit lower in the joint capsule.

Dental – Skeletal Relationship

The upper and lower jaw bones primarily relate to each other via the dental relationship or bite. Teeth fit together like gears meshing together which dictates the lower jaw position against the skull. Since the upper jaw is also the base of the skull, mis-alignments of this relationship due to a “bad bite”, altered development of the jaws, or because of damaged teeth or joints, will skew the postural orientation of the jaw-skull relationship. (The significance of these mal-adaptations or unbalanced jaw-to-skull relationships will become clear when overlapped with the neuromuscular components).

Neuromuscular

The remaining part of this equation is to analyze what the muscles and nervous system “think” about discrepancies in the dental bite, or when the jaw joint becomes unnecessarily compressed due to muscle tension or faulty jaw position. This is more a discussion about neurology than anything else. Because of how the body and the muscles are “wired” and regulated with sensory receptors (stretch, pain, and pressure receptors) and due to autonomic nervous system reflex arcs, then how the jaw relates to the skull matters – especially when it comes to the comfort and strength of the upper body.

This is important to know because it is the role of teeth and muscles to not only chew, but to provide bracing during swallowing and to help stabilize head and neck posture. This coupling of jaw and neck muscles is one of the many reasons that teeth grinding and tension headaches occur so frequently in people with “TMJ”, neck and back problems. Neurologically speaking, when the teeth or lower jaw are not stable or aligned with the skull properly, this can create “muscle guarding” and “avoidance conditioning” in the muscles and nervous system.

These conditions automatically occur (reflex) when the nervous system tries to avoid “noxious” sensory input by using the muscles to move away from sensory interferences in function or posture. In other words, when otherwise normal function creates sensory (proprioception) interferences in the nervous system, the body “guards” against them and tries to avoid them often resulting in muscle dis-coordination and tension. The result is decreased strength, balance, and endurance; in short … the loss of that all important competitive edge.

This increased tension or strain then becomes the essence or central point of why and how the Pure Power Mouthguard claims its superiority and advantage. When the muscles are relaxed and the jaw is comfortably supported in a more comfortable position, then the pain avoidance, reflex compensations, and interferences which sap muscle strength are eliminated, and the inherent native strength of nerves and muscles are restored.

This is why patients being treated with neuromuscular TMJ therapy find relief from shoulder, back, neck, and ear pain, along with relief from their persistent headaches. It is also why they test strong in strength and balance tests. And now, it is understood why athletes wearing a PPM “orthotic” or mouthguard appliance made consistent with neuromuscular principles, are able to measurably improve their strength, balance, agility and endurance.

With these understandings, the answer to this question becomes clear: “What happens to the body when the jaw muscles aren’t balanced or comfortable with the bite we have or grew up with?”

Because of the jaw’s unique ability to move in its six planes and because of the ability of the jaw joint to move down/forward and sit lower in the joint space, the lower jaw and its muscles and nerves become compromised in their ability to brace and stabilize head and neck posture when the jaw isn’t aligned properly with the base of the skull. This was already known to have profound implications in the world of medicine and dentistry, but we now know that in a “sub-clinical” way it can affect the strength and balance of an athlete as well.

Simply said, the lower jaw must be balanced in ALL six planes of movement (especially to remove the jaw torque of pitch, yaw and roll) in order for the muscles and nervous system to be comfortable and stable. To any degree it isn’t, and to the degree which these problems cascade or “ripple” through the body (called “compensatory mal-adaption”), is the degree to which athletic performance and balance is degraded.

While a bit complex, this is the science behind the PPM mouthguard. In concept it’s just simple common-sense, yet they spell the difference between strength and weakness, endurance and fatigue, and of course – winning and losing!

The Pure Power Mouthguard Solution

Finding the right jaw position is not easy. It requires the use of modern scientific electronic instrumentation which relaxes the muscles of the jaw and precisely determines that “sweet spot” where the jaw is both relaxed and set in its most powerful stabilized position.

To find the right bite position for a Pure Power Mouthguard, a TENS medical device is used (Transcutaneous Electrical Neural Stimulation) to relax muscles and improve blood flow in the muscles. This clears out lactic acid from the muscles and reduces electrical activity (muscle tension) in jaw and neck muscles (as measured by SEMG - surface electromyography - similar to EKG leads on the chest over the heart).

With relaxed muscles, the jaw can assume a comfortable position as it hangs in its sling of muscles and ligaments beneath the skull. Its position or posture is thereby corrected in all six planes of movement, and the Pitch/Yaw/Roll torque is eliminated from the jaw posture. It is in this corrected and stable position that a bite registration is made so that the dental laboratory can fabricate the PPM appliance to this exact duplicate position.

The magic of the PPM isn’t that it allows super-human performance or makes someone stronger than they already are. The “magic” is that it allows a person to fully recruit, brace and coordinate muscles comfortably and with increased balance and endurance. Because they tire less easily and are less guarded or inhibited, muscles work harder longer and with increased efficiency.

The Pure Power Mouthguard Advantage

What’s interesting is that the body is already wired to tell us where it best performs. In fact, have you ever caught yourself resting your teeth on your tongue? Or noticed that many prominent athletes stick their tongue out while playing? They are using their tongue and open mouth position in an intuitive and natural way to better rest and brace their jaw which provides better strength and balance. On the other hand, have you ever wondered why so many athletes chew on their mouthguards and take them out between plays? There is something to be said for a properly made mouthguard that is comfortable, improves breathing and airflow, and allows for speech.

It’s unfortunate that yesterdays athletes didn’t have the advantage of The Pure Power Mouthguard to help them perform better and be more competitive. They didn’t know that when issues of muscle guarding and functional interferences are eliminated or controlled, that the body is then free to function and perform as it can and should. Thanks to the innovation and advancement of modern scientific methods, today’s athletes don’t have that same excuse!

Perhaps the best “proof” of the science comes from personal use. PPM users quickly become believers because they can feel the difference in their bodies and in their personal comfort and performance. Trainers quickly see the proof by measuring quicker reflexes, faster speed, more repetitions, better balance, increased range-of-motion, decreased injuries, and of course – happier athletes!

For athletes who are concerned about having “the edge”- about having an extra few percent in their performance – this is a big deal! This is why high performance athletes, including a quickly growing number of world-class professional and college athletes, are now using this specially designed mouthguard simply called “The Edge!”

In a world of sports where winning and loosing can often be measured in split-seconds, single points, and fractions of an inch, having an advantage matters! It matters to coaches, trainers, schools and teams, as well as to individual players.

Whether it’s about building a winning tradition for your team or school, securing your job as a trainer or coach, winning a multi-million dollar player contract, or simply improving your performance in personal exercise or a sports hobby - the Pure Power Mouthguard can give you that all important competitive edge that otherwise might go to someone else.

At the end of every performance or game, someone is going to be on the “awards platform” giving acknowledgements and thanks. It could be you if you have The Edge!

You can find out if you are a candidate for a PPM by making an appointment for a complimentary consultation with Dr. Ostler. A quick dental screening, along with simple strength adn balance tests will help determine how a PPM mouthguard can improve your athletic or exercise training performance. Contact us today and gain the competitive edge with the Pure Power Mouthguard advantage. For an appointment call 509-946-6566.