How to Boil a Mouth Guard

A mouth guard is used to protect your teeth during athletic competition.The mouth guard acts as a shock absorber and a properly fitted mouth guard can help prevent chipped or broken teeth, certain kinds of concussions or headaches that result from your lower jaw slamming up against your upper jaw. Many athletes boil mouth guards and then insert and mold them for a better fit.

Things You'll Need

• Medium sauce pot
• Medium bowl

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Instructions

• 1

  Get a mouth guard that fits the age range. Kids need to get mouth guards for kids; adults need to get an adult mouth guard. If you get an adult-sized mouth guard for a child, it will be too large and won't properly form to the child's mouth. If you get a kid-sized mouth guard for an adult, it won't be large enough to cover all of the upper teeth.

• 2

  Boil water in a medium-sized pot 3/4 full. While you're waiting for the water to boil, fill a medium sized bowl with cold water.

• 3

  Place the mouth guard in the boiling water for one minute. Do not place the entire mouth guard in the boiling water, only the portion going in your mouth. Hold the mouth guard under the water by the extender part, that way when it's done after a minute, you can remove it without burning yourself.

• 4

  Take the mouth guard out of the boiling water after a minute and place it in the small bowl of cold water for 5 seconds. After 5 seconds, take the mouth guard out of the cold water and place it in your mouth. It will still be considerably warm, so be careful. The heat from the boiling water temporarily melts the plastic in the mouth guard and allows it to be flexible so it can be specifically formed to your mouth.

• 5

  Bite down once the mouth guard is in your mouth. Hold your teeth clenched for one minute. As your clenching your teeth, the mouth guard will form to your specific mouth.

• 6

  Remove the mouth guard after a minute and set it on the counter, allowing it to further harden. The mouth guard is now for activity.