| Despite the benefits of mouth guards, children, adolescents, collegiate athletes, and professional athletes across the nation seldom wear this protective device. The purpose of this study was to investigate certified athletic trainers' (ATCs) knowledge and attitudes towards mouth guards and identify the corresponding orofacial injury rate. Three hundred and seventy-four ATCs in the state of California who worked in either the high school, collegiate, or professional levels, were surveyed on knowledge of mouth guards and injury rate at their institution. Certified athletic trainers were given the Mouth Guard Knowledge Survey (MGKS) containing 25 questions on mouth guard knowledge, opinion, and incidence of orofacial injury during the 1998 to 1999 academic year. Descriptive statistics including means, medians, modes, frequency tables, and cross tabulations were used to analyze ATC knowledge questions and demographic information. Athletic trainers had a good working knowledge of mouth guard use, risks, compliance, and type; however, responses related to mouth guard compliance indicated that the majority of ATCs do not attribute mouth guard use or compliance to any one faction of the athletic team (coaches, athletes, parents, or ATCs). When cross tabulations were conducted, 46% (n = 78) of ATCs who understand that mouth guards protect against injury, do not dispense mouth guard information to their athletes prior to their first practice. Mouth guards are an important piece of protective equipment, but accountability for mouth guard compliance and knowledge dissemination appears to be lacking. Therefore, ATCs should consider implementing a system for mouth guard compliance at their institution. |
