The influence of the position of the lower jaw on human performance in athletes

Abstract

Mouth guards are widely used by athletes for the protection of the orofacial region from trauma during training and competition. A mouth guard will change the position of the lower jaw of the athlete when worn. This literature review looked at the findings of current research on the effect of mouth guard use on athletic performance. Studies which investigated the possibility of a negative impact on performance from wearing a mouth guard generally concluded that there is no negative impact on performance. Some other studies suggested there is no impact on performance with mouth guard use in sport and a larger number of studies observed positive influences on performance. The position of the lower jaw during mouth guard use in comparison to wearing no mouth guard is the common reason given for the positive improvement observed in performance. There is a lack of consensus in the current research of the mechanism or connection between lower jaw position and performance. This literature review raises the question, does the position of the lower jaw affect human performance?