It's Time for Mandatory Use of Mouthguards in the NFL
It's still hard for me to believe that the NFL and the NFLPA haven't called for the mandatory use of "specialized" mouthguards.
On July 22, 2010 - exactly five years ago to the day - I wrote an article on this issue. On July 31, 2012 I wrote another article about this issue that was posted on Yahoo Sports and the National Football Post websites. On June 18, 2014 I wrote about this issue again and posted it on this website at this link: The NFL and NFL Players Association need to mandate the use of Mouth Guards.
Five years ago, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was quoted as saying, “It’s not necessarily proven, but clearly I think you’d be safer with a mouth guard in your mouth.” If that's true, then why does the NFL continue to stand on the sidelines and do nothing? And why does the NFL Players Association - that is charged with protecting the safety of its members - continue to sit on the bench? Instead of being leaders on this issue, the NFL and NFLPA continue to ignore the fact that this one small piece of equipment could make the game safer for players.
It's sad to say, but the NFL continues to say it anyway - there is no "definitive" medical link between mouth guards and concussion prevention - even though several studies and anecdotal evidence have strongly suggested that there is a link. We also heard them say that there is no definitive link between concussions and dementia, but if that's true, why are they agreeing to pay a billion dollars to former players that have developed cognitive impairments? We all know the answer to that question.
I thought the NFL was supposed to be a leader and a role model on these football player safety issues, but in this case it's Pee Wee, Pop Warner, High School and College football that have taken the lead and have made the mouthguard a mandatory piece of equipment. The NCAA has had this equipment rule in effect for over 40 years!
So, why doesn't the NFL at least err on the side of caution and just unilaterally mandate the use of mouthguards, just like they did with hip, knee and thigh pads? Are they are concerned that it would be interpreted as an admission of guilt, and as such, open them up to lawsuits for not making it mandatory much sooner?
Unfortunately, the longer the NFL owners wait, the greater the chance that this mouthgaurd issue will come back to bite them on the ass and take a big chunk out of their collective wallets. The NFLPA will be just as responsible because they too have turned a blind eye.
Do you remember what Gene Upshaw said about concussions in the NFL, even though the research and evidence was piled higher than player's bodies on a goal line stand? “I think we’re just a reflection of society, I don’t want to take that next leap to say, you know, football caused dementia. I just don’t believe that.”
It took some time, but Gene Upshaw finally became a "believer" and now they talk about his lasting legacy being concussion research.
DeMaurice Smith still has an opportunity to build his legacy and beat the league to the punch on this issue, but he has too many players that don't like the way a mouthguard feels in their mouth and they don't want Smith to be their mouthpiece on this safety issue. Hey, I didn't like the way that pads and helmets felt, but I clearly thought I'd be safer with them on my body and head. Sometimes we have to protect people from themselves. That's why we have seat belt laws all over the country.
I'm not saying the NFL and NFLPA aren't doing some good things to address the concussion issue. ln March 2013, the NFL launched the Head Health Challenge - a four-year, $60 million collaboration between GE and the NFL to speed diagnosis and improve treatment for mild traumatic brain injury. They gave 16 grants - at $300,000 apiece - to companies in the first round. The NFL, Under Armour and GE also launched a second challenge, to look for new innovations and materials that can protect the brain from traumatic injury and for new tools for tracking head impacts in real time.
The NFLPA is giving $100 million to Harvard Medical School to establish a 10-year research initiative aimed at finding solutions to players’ health problems.
They are both spending millions of dollars on everything but "specialized" mouthpiece technology!
Here's another article I wrote that discusses not only the need for specialized mouthguards, but the need for using them in conjunction with a uniform neck strength training program throughout the NFL. Although I mention the Pure Power Mouthguard in the article, I am not endorsing the product. I am only using it as an example of some of the new mouthguard technology that is being used by some NFL teams.
New Research on Preventing Concussions
Written and posted by Jeff Nixon on August 13, 2013
For the past few years I have been advocating for the mandatory use of specialized mouth guards in the NFL as a way of reducing injury and possibly preventing concussions.
In studying and researching this issue, I am now convinced that new standards in neuromuscular dentistry should receive the same recognition given to new developments in helmet technology. Any NFL mouth guard mandate being considered should also focus on jaw alignment as it relates to neck strength and upper body muscle asymmetry. These new mouth guard technologies, just as with helmet grading, clearly set the gold standard and should be an essential part of any neck strength initiative, regardless of their effect on concussion.
There is new validated scientific research that shows a well-developed neck likely defuses the potentially damaging forces sometimes generated when a player is hit in the head. Check out this article in Time Magazine: Neck Strength Predicts Concussion Risk
A simple battery of strength tests, now available to team trainers and physicians, can determine if one side of the neck or shoulder may stronger than the other. If they are not symmetrical, it may be a symptom of pinched neuro-pathways due to a misalignment of the Temporal Mandible Joint, commonly known as temporal mandibular joint dysfunction or TMD.
Specialized, neuromuscular mouth guards are engineered to medical grade standard. They are made to open neuro-pathways in correcting each individual’s physiological deficiencies. This approach has shown in research to help in reducing micro trauma resulting in nausea, dings, dizziness, etc., in athletes who are post orthodontic or diagnosed with TMD. More research on concussion is needed in this area and its relation to CTE, but we do know there effect on upper body strength, balance and posture.
This new research has been reviewed by an NFL Head, Neck and Spine Committee member who believes there may be a reasonable link. Nonetheless, the NFL isn’t convinced enough to implement a universal mandatory neck training protocol for all 32 teams – or set any standard for the use of any specific mouth guard. Players who have TMD may be at risk without any way of knowing.
The Committee said that every team’s strength and conditioning program emphasizes “neck muscles in one form or another”, but those weight programs lack any standard of care and vary from one team to another – a consistent problem with many NFL policies that pass the buck to the franchises.
The same is true for mouth guards. The common “boil and bite guards” most players use, randomly position the end of the jawbone dangerously close – just millimetres from where Dr. Cantu and military researchers have pinpointed the origins of CTE. That could change with the introduction of the Pure Power Mouth Guard developed by Dr. Anil Makkar and used by numerous professional athletes. Here is a link to their website Bite Advantage.
The Pure Power Mouthguard employs a protocol to determine musculature asymmetry and a procedure to place the jaw in the best position for each individual – down to the millimeter.
As opposed to standard mouth guards that are flat-bottomed and mold to the upper teeth, these neuromuscular guards contain both upper and lower tooth indentations and slightly reposition the bite so that the jaw muscles and joints are stabilized, reducing stress on postural and upper body musculature.
Check out this video clip from Monday Night Football where John Gruden, Ron Jaworski and Mike Tirico discuss this new mouth guard technology that most of the New Orleans Saints players are using.
The NFL Commissioner has already gone on record saying “I clearly think you would be safer with a mouth guard in your mouth.”
Sportswriter Mike Florio recently discussed how mandatory leg pads in the NFL could also be a gateway for mandatory mouth-guards in concussion prevention. During Florio’s radio talk show, Tony Dungy also supported the mandatory use of mouth guards.
All athletes should consider the new neck strength research and the Pure Power Mouth Guard technology not only for injury prevention, but performance enhancement.
Ravens strength coach Bob Rogucki recently said, “We probably put more emphasis on the neck because of the concussion aspect that now is part of our daily life.” He also said “It’s important that they can walk off the field without their head being strapped down to a [stretcher].”
I think we can all agree with that last statement.
Send the NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell and the NFLPA Executive Director, DeMaurice Smith a quick email letting them know that it’s time to protect players by mandating the use of neuromuscular mouth guards and the establishment of a league-wide uniform protocol for neck and shoulder strength symmetry.
As former players, we have always been at the forefront of helping active players by advocating for changes in their equipment, game rules, practice conditions and the NFL policies that they play under. Without our voices added to the mix, it is unlikely that many of the recent changes would have made by the NFL or NFLPA.
Sincerely,
Jeff Nixon
