Like many people, I had braces as a teenager and still participated in sports growing up. While Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was not a sport that I participated in until my late twenties I was curious if doing BJJ with dental braces was a good idea so I did some research to find out if it was feasible.
Having dental braces should not stop you from training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Using an appropriate mouth guard and tapping early to pressure across your mouth can mitigate most of the issues associated with training with braces.
Let’s take a look at some of the oral injuries that could occur during BJJ training if you’re wearing dental braces and how you might handle these situations if they come up.
Will Wearing Dental Braces While Doing BJJ Cause Injuries?
Dental Braces do not cause injuries but make them somewhat more likely to happen since the force can be concentrated into a smaller area like the brackets and wires that make up braces. The most common issues are minor cuts and popped brackets.
Orthodontists recommend that you use mouthguards to protect your braces and your mouth whenever you are doing contact sports.
Using effective mouthguards and tapping quickly to pressure across your face can effectively mitigate much of the injury risk to your mouth.
Common Injuries From Dental Braces During BJJ
Some injuries that can occur while you have dental braces and are training jiu-jitsu are oral cuts and lacerations or tooth fractures. Popped brackets on your braces can also happen, but that can be fixed with a trip to the orthodontist.
Oral Cuts and Lacerations
Accidental impacts, as well as pressure to the mouth, can cause cuts on the gums, lips, tongue, and cheeks. If you have not popped a bracket then you simply need to let it heal on its own. If your cuts get infected or are healing slowly you should get medical help.
Tooth Fractures
Tooth fractures are one of the more common injuries in BJJ that can happen with dental braces. A crack or break in the tooth structure is more likely since having braces can focus pressure into the tooth at a concentrated point instead of being spread out across the whole tooth or multiple teeth.
How to Reduce Oral Injuries From Dental Braces During BJJ
Both conscientious jiu-jitsu training and picking up a good mouthguard are effective in reducing your risk of oral injury. Avoiding pressure and impacts during training sidesteps risks entirely and mouthguards spread out pressure and prevent brackets and wires from cutting into your mouth.
How to Train BJJ Safely with Braces
Having a mouthguard is very helpful to keep your braces and mouth safe during BJJ, but you can also change the way you train in order to increase your safety as well. Tapping early to pressure and training with less power will allow you to stay safe while getting good skill development.
A simple solution that some people overlook is simply asking for your partner to avoid pressure across the face during training. It doesn’t really work in a tournament setting, but you can usually control your training environment to some extent. Talk to your coach about it too.
Tapping Early
Dental braces magnify pressure across your face and mouth full of braces. Tapping early or staying out of that type of situation entirely will be both safer and more comfortable. Shoulder pressure and cross-faces are tapping situations when you have dental braces.
Less Power More Flow
When people are training with high power and intensity, accidental impacts and more pressure generally get used by default. Sidestep that and try to use less power and encourage your training partners to look for more movement and less force.
Using training strategies like flow rolling whenever possible will maximize skill development while bringing down injury risk.
Picking the Right Type of Mouthguard for BJJ Training With Braces
Picking the right mouthguard solution is important for protecting from oral injuries and needless trips to the orthodontist to get your braces fixed. Let’s take a look at the most common options available for mouthguards so that you can make the decision for yourself.
Stock Mouthguards
Stock mouthguards are standard sizes and come pre-formed and are the least expensive and most widely available. You can find them in sporting goods stores, but they rarely fit well and can be bulky and uncomfortable.
It’s possible to wear them with dental braces and they can do a reasonably good job of stopping injuries.
Boil-and-Bite Mouthguards
Boil-and-bite mouthguards are also relatively inexpensive, and you can purchase them at sporting goods and drug stores. The term “boil-and-bite” comes from the fact that you have to boil them to allow them to soften before placing them in your mouth.
This is unfortunately a pretty bad option for people with dental braces. If the mouthguard forms around the bracket you might get pieces of the mouthguard stuck in the bracket or even pop the bracket when you take it out.
Custom-Made Mouthguards
Custom-made mouthguards designs for braces are the most expensive and naturally the most effective type. Orthodontists can provide this service for you, or you can use other services like Game On to get a mouthguard that works well for braces.
An impression of your teeth is created and is used to create a snug and more comfortable effective mouthguard that can be placed safely over your braces. A good custom-made mouthguard for braces will allow for alignment changes, so regular replacements are not required.
Can I Wear a Regular Mouthguard With Dental Braces?
A regular mouthguard can be worn with braces and will help to protect your mouth, but it isn’t an optimal solution. The best type of mouthguard to wear with dental braces is one designed for braces. These custom-made mouthguards offer the best protection.
Final Thoughts
You can definitely train jiu-jitsu while you have dental braces. Just be smart about taking care of your mouth by using a mouthguard designed for people with braces.
Braces are temporary and skill development will stick with you, so tapping early to avoid pressure and training with low intensity can give you plenty of skill development without risking your braces or the health of your mouth.
It’s very achievable to manage dental braces and do Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, so don’t let braces stop you from training if that is something that you want to do.
For more check out Can You Do Martial Arts with Dental Braces?