Knowledge and Awareness on Mouthguards among Coaches/Trainers and Parents of Young Athletes

Participation in sports has a high risk of dental trauma.Mouthguards help to prevent this dental trauma.However, using mouthguards among young athletes has been questionable because of inadequate information and feasibility.Athletes' choices are often influenced by their coaches and parents, so coaches/trainers and parents are responsible for educating them about orofacial injury prevention.Hence, this study aims to evaluate the knowledge and awareness of mouthguards among coaches/trainers and parents.This study assessed the awareness of mouthguards among coaches and parents whose children participate in sports.Materials and methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a sample size of 1,200 selected by a non-probability consecutive sampling technique from various sports academies.Coaches/trainers and parents who send their children to sports were included in the study.A questionnaire translated into the local language was given to the coaches/trainers and parents regarding sociodemographics and knowledge of mouthguards.Data were analyzed and subjected to statistical analysis (t-test).Results: Approximately, 82.1% of parents and all the coaches are aware and believe that mouthguards prevent oral injuries.Despite the above awareness, children of only 41.8% of parents and students of 65.6% of coaches had ever used a mouthguard (p < 0.01).Conclusion: Despite increasing levels of participation in sports, the use of mouthguards remains limited.Various factors, such as a lack of proper awareness, negligence, and cost considerations, can be attributed to this.