Journal of Orthodontics & Endodontics

Evaluation of Knowledge and Attitude of Sports Participants toward Protective Mouthguards in Riyadh City

Objective: To evaluate the knowledge and attitude of sports participants toward protective mouthguards and sportsrelated dental injuries.

Methodology: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in a form of digitalized self-administrated questionnaire that was distributed randomly among sports participants in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire consisted of 16 questions focusing on knowledge and attitude of sports participants toward using protective mouthguards and sports-related dental injuries. Chi-square test was used to investigate associations between factors.

Results: A total of 423 sport participants have responded. Only 353 participants were included in this study. No association was found between the level of education and occupation and knowledge of availability of protective mouthguards. However, statistically significant association was found between gender and knowledge where males had more knowledge on the availability of protective mouthguards than females (p=0.001) and type of sport and knowledge where participants who run, play football and swim had knowledge than others (p=0.021).

Conclusion: Within the study limitations, the findings show significant inadequate knowledge among Riyadh city sports participants regarding mouthguard usage as a protective measure. However, the findings of this study may contribute the sports participants for implication towards their use of mouthguards reducing the prevalence of orofacial injuries.

Author(s): Faisal Alshamikh, Albaraa Bin Battal, Fahad Alharbi, Faisal Rasheed, Abdullah Sembawa, Nancy Ajwaand Omar Alkadhi

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