MMA Mouthguard Review From SportingSmiles
I typically don’t write reviews on products, but I’ve been searching for a mouthguard for a few years now and I’ve finally found one that is designed exactly how I want. I first started training in MMA in 2016 and have since gone through various mouthguards. Some lasted a few months, some longer, but they were all missing the combination of comfort and protection. I thought an MMA mouthguard was just fitted that way until I finally found one that I love which drove me to write this review.
Getting into MMA in my early 20s, I chose the cheapest route for protection as I was eager to start my training. Going to a local Walmart, I picked up a boil-n-bite sports guard. Fun fact, I bit right through the guard in my very first sparring session. Getting hit in the face hurts and I clenched my teeth right through it. I went back the next day and purchased another boil-n-bite which lasted me a few months but I had the same issue of biting through it. It also felt cheap and bulky in my mouth which made it difficult to breathe during training.
For the next few years, I decided to upgrade my mouthguard and try various places. They were much more expensive than my previous drugstore mouthguards but they lasted longer. My teeth were protected but the mouthguard didn’t feel exact in my mouth. They were a little loose and if I got hit in the mouth or taken down, the mouthguard would pop off my teeth and become a distraction in my mouth. It was frustrating, not to mention the cost of these was significantly higher.
I started to look online and that’s when I found SportingSmiles. What drew me to them was how I saw others wearing their sports mouthguard including Olympic athletes. If the best athletes in the world were wearing their mouthguards, surely a chubby late 20s something could use them too. With SportingSmiles, I didn’t have to go anywhere. I ordered the impression kit and received it in two days.
The kit came with a step-by-step guide on how to make the perfect impressions for my sports mouthguard. In the guide is a QR code to a video that will guide you on making impressions. It was very helpful and I watched the video 2 or 3 times to better understand how to take impressions. After taking impressions they require you to send photos of them to their dental lab. I sent photos and the next day I had a response from customer service telling me that the impressions were good and to send the impressions back. The kit came with free 3-way shipping so it was as easy as just slapping the return label on the box and shipping it back.
One of the cool things about SportingSmiles is the selection of sports mouthguards. They suggested a 6mm mouthguard for MMA athletes so I ordered that. Their most popular is the crystal clear guard but a few others caught my eye like the Superman mouthguard. They have others to choose from like religious symbols, country flags, and various logos like gold teeth. I read that if you want a special logo or your nickname on the mouthguard they can do that too at no extra charge.
My SportingSmiles mouthguard came back in about two weeks. I did call to ask if they received my impressions and customer service was very polite. They put me on hold, got an immediate update, and relayed what phase my mouthguard was in at the lab, then gave me the expected date of delivery. Sure enough, the mouthguard came later that week just in time for me to try it out at an amateur fight.
The guard came in a nice travel case for me to store it in if I ever take a trip and want to train at another gym. It fits great in my bag and is well protected by the case. As for the mouthguard itself, I got a clear 6mm mouthguard. It’s the one that offers the max protection as opposed to the 3mm that they suggest is crafted for light contact sports like basketball or soccer.
One of my biggest complaints about previous mouthguards were how cheap they felt. The SportingSmiles mouthguard is sleek in design and lightweight. When I put it on, it snaps onto my teeth with a tight fit. I was punched, kicked, and taken down on numerous training sessions over the next few weeks after getting the guard and it never once wavered or detached from my teeth. It took all the punishment and my teeth were firmly protected. Whenever I clenched down or bit down out of habit, my teeth didn’t go through the guard as they did with the cheap drug store ones.
Gassing out is a common issue when it comes to fighting. It’s a lot easier to grow tired when your airflow is blocked by a bulky mouthguard keeping you from taking deep breaths. The SportingSmiles guard while extremely effective in protecting my teeth also was sleek enough not to block passages of air. I lasted longer in training sessions because I wasn’t adjusting the guard in my mouth or felt an air blockage. I didn’t have to fiddle around with it and remove it from my mouth and reattach it.
I’ve spent some decent money on mouthguards throughout the years, sometimes well over $100 on the guards but SportingSmiles offers their premium guards for $95 for the 6mm clear one. I’ve spent close to $150 on other brands so I was surprised to find a guard that works so well for me at that price point. It’s been almost a year since I ordered the MMA guard from SportingSmiles and they’ve notified me that my impressions will be recycled soon. I thought they threw my impressions away once they made the sports guard but apparently they keep them for a year in case you want to reorder.
I ordered a backup MMA guard just in case I lose my current one during travels. When I placed the order through the phone, customer service notified me that I could opt to have my impressions kept on a digital file for life and stored in their dental lab. It was a great deal and now I can order a sports guard whenever I need it without having to take new impressions.
The SportingSmiles MMA guard is great and continued to protect my teeth whenever I fight. It still snaps onto my teeth just like the first time and I’ve been able to last longer in training sessions because it doesn’t block the airflow as other bulky guards do. I didn’t have any negative experiences with SportingSmiles from the products to the customer service, but I will say that taking the impressions was a little intimidating at first. As mentioned, it comes with an instruction guide with step-by-step instructions to follow and a video to watch. It might seem like a big deal but I just jumped right in and my impressions turned out great and were confirmed by customer service.
With an MMA guard being so crucial to protecting athletes like myself when we train and fight, I just felt the need to write up this review as it was such a positive experience with SportingSmiles. I’d been trying new mouthguards for years but that all stops now. I found the one for me that is sleek, comfortable, and most importantly protects me.
