echappist

Yep. You read that correctly. Does anyone wear or know of someone who wears one while racing? Here's the back story: four of my front teeth on the top jaw and one on the bottom were broken during a crash in June. In a few months, i'll have the top teeth restored, thanks to the invention of dental implants, and will have the bottom restored with a bridgework. I would very much like to keep them for as long as possible and thought if mouth guards can help in hockey in which collisions occur at relative velocity of 30+mph, it may just help in cycling as well.

Smallguy

never raced with one but had a custom one made for soccer I found it to be a bit restrictive when I was breathing really deep

Nate552

My teammates wife works at a dentist office that does this power guard thing. She went to some seminar on it and told me about it, but I wasn't really listening since I thought it was B.S. But you never know....

https://www.harleystreetdentalstudio.com/html/ppm.html

ericm979

Can you breathe through your mouth with a mouth guard? Not being able to do so would be a problem.

You could use a downhill racing helmet, it has face protection. Then you could breathe through your mouth, but you wouldn't be able to drink from a normal bottle.

I have also had a crash that resulted in expensive dental work. I wanted to ride with a full face helmet for a while, but eventually I got over it. If someone made a helmet with a face guard that would still allow me to eat and drink, and didn't weight a ton, I'd consider it.

tosterbe

I am sponsored by a dentist who was a PPM provider but now works with AgilityGuard. I am just another average Joe. Coming from a science and engineering background, I was skeptical of the claims made about these devices. Having been through the process of getting fitted and the associated testing of using/not using the AgilityGuard, I am a believer. By no means is it a substitute for good training but I believe it does have some value.

Part of my winter training was doing the sufferfest downward spiral. I did some data collection with and without the AgilityGuard. Unfortunately, I had a two week pause between testing due to a nasty, nasty cold. I used golden cheetah to compare the ride data. The pictures below show the difference in the power spent within each 10 watt bucket.

w/o AG

Using AgilityGuard


From a perceived effort perspective, I find that I do recover faster when wearing the AG both in and post ride. I've a slept with it in after a couple of days of training.

I've used the AG in four training crits and one race this year. It did take some time to adjust to wearing the AG while racing. One thing that was challenging was how to eat on the bike. Drinking is not a problem but eating gels or chews can be challenging. The first road race of the season is later this month. I am planning on gel in a flask as well as an electrolyte drink. For me, if I eat or drink things that are overly sweet, I will salivate a ton. I tend to like hammer products and I find for me, Heed is the way to go when using the AG.

https://www.agilityguard.com



-Todd
www.norcalhubracing.com

ridethecliche

How exactly does a mouthguard help performance?

echappist

thanks for the responses. I'm not looking for any performance gains: just want to make sure that my grills get as much protection as possible. To boot, i don't have $1500 to spend on mouth guards, and that alone is almost enough for 1 implant + crown.

if you buy into this hype...

bostongarden

Maybe a crazy idea, but, here's something that just might be a good solution for you --a helmet with built-in mouth protection and sunglasses; and you would be making a statement as a rider to be feared (I have on that you could borrow to try if interested).

echappist

aicabsolut

+1
I looked at the website, and it claimed that it is "well known" that a properly designed mouthguard can enhance performance, particularly strength. It focused a lot on strength and balance. It didn't say how this worked. Increased anaerobic capacity? Some user feedback claimed improved endurance and recovery. I am missing the science here, but at least that one looks like you can probably breathe ok with it on.

ericm979

Todd- before using the guard did you clench your jaw or position it unusually? From the descriptions it sounds like the people who see an improvement were the ones with problems that needed improving.

When I had an "invisaline" clear plastic retainer I tried eating bars with it... doesn't work.

gsteinb

I actually know a guy he does. He's a freak to begin with so I never thought to ask why.

tosterbe

I didn't have any 'remarkable' things as you mention above. As a kid, I did have a braces for four years and part of that process was to correct an overbite.

Another interesting thing to add is if I've been wearing the guard for more than a few minutes, when I remove the guard, I notice a significant difference in my jaw position. Funny as it sounds, it feels like something is missing (duh) and it takes a few minutes to readjust to not wearing the AG.

echappist

Very interesting indeed. Could you drink from a bottle while wearing it? Also, what about actual protection that it offers?

m015094

Wearing a mouth guard to increase performance is as about as moronic as the people who this these work. I remember when Breathe Right strips became a fad in the sports world. Those don't work either. Bottom line is that you see Shaq or Lance using something like, they're getting paid to use it.

But to the original question. No I've never seen a cyclist where a mouth guard. Don't crash - you'll feel better in general.