Pacquiao fitted with a new mouth guard
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 30 Mar 2007
When Manny Pacquiao gets in the ring, all the details leading to the fight are meticulously taken cared of.
Take for instance, his mouth guard, a protective devise that reduces the possibility of intra-oral injuries as well as possible concussion resulting from his opponent’s punches.
Being a smart and an experienced gladiator, he knows too well that nothing beats a well fitting intra-oral protective devise. Thus, he makes sure that one is made for him for all his fights
The Pacquiao-Solis tiff is no different. Pacquiao, as early as February made arrangements with this writer to have a custom fitted mouth guard made for him. Last Sunday, impressions were taken of his dentition and yesterday evening, a brand new blue and yellow colored custom mouth guard was delivered to him.
Pacquiao will be using his new mouth guard starting today when he spars at the Wildcard Gym. Instructions on its proper use and maintenance, including how to peel it off his teeth in between rounds were given to his trainers, Buboy Fernandez and Nonoy Neri. They in turn will show Justin Fortune how to do it. The same instructions were already given to Freddie Roach.
To many, a mouth guard is a mouth guard. Nothing can be further from the truth!
Custom fitted mouth guards made from an impression of a fighters dentition by a trained dental professional are totally different from all other mouth guards particularly the “boil and bite” mouth guards. They are made following guidelines recommended by the Academy for Sports Dentistry. They have specific thickness is certain areas to allow proper breathing, as well as to provide maximum comfort and protection for the fighters.
Custom fitted mouth guards can not be pushed off by the fighter’s tongue. The trainer needs to remove them. Thus, the instructions were provided to Pacquiao’s trainers.
Fighters using loose fitting mouth guards that they can push off with their tongue are unnecessarily living with danger. Remember Fernando Montiel at the “Moment of Truth” in Cebu? What a pity!
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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