Many athletes participating in contact sports wear mouthguards to prevent injury. Some researchers are finding that a custom mouthpiece might also aid recovery after a strenuous workout. Researchers from the Department of Health, Exercise and Sport Science at The Citadel and from the Department of Health and Human Performance from the College of Charleston, both in Charleston, South Carolina, conducted research on the recovery benefits of wearing a mouthpiece.
Researchers studied 13 college-age males. Each received a custom-made mouthpiece to be worn during exercise on alternate exercise days. The wedge-shaped mouthpiece allowed the lower jaw to move down and slightly forward when teeth were clenched. Blood samples were taken before, during and after exercise to measure cortisol levels. The group that wore the mouthpiece had lower cortisol levels at the midpoint and 30 minutes after exercise.
“The findings are important because decreasing the cortisol response after exercise may lead to a quicker recovery time which is an important consideration for those who train daily, such as competitive athletes,” said Dr. Wes D. Dudgeon of the research team from the Department of Health, Exercise and Sport Science at The Citadel. “The findings also show the potential to enhance exercise performance without the use of drugs or supplements.”
More research is still required. Researchers still don’t know why the mouthpieces reduce serum cortisol levels. One theory is that the mouthguard changes the alighment of the lower jaw, which increases cerebral blood flow to the hypothalamus, the area of the brain that controls the stress response. This could reduce the amount of cortisol that is released.
The paper published to support the study, “Mouthpiece Use Reduces Post Exercise Serum Cortisol Levels,” is part of the science presented at the meeting Experimental Biology 2012 held this month in San Diego.
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Official Website