The Guard – Issue 02

Your dental hygiene is important to you. But how clean is your mouthguard?

Dental hygiene is a matter of course for our daily lives.
But what about a product that regularly sits directly on our teeth and gums during sports?
How clean is your mouthguard really?
A 2026 study with 214 youth ice hockey players in Ontario shows that this topic is far from a matter of course: Only 52 % of the surveyed players stated they clean their mouthguard at all. Additionally, of those using a custom-made mouthguard, 64 % had never received care instructions from their dentist.
This shows: Mouthguard hygiene is not just a matter of material. It is also a matter of awareness.

What happens on a used sports mouthguard?

Even while being worn, a mouthguard comes into contact with saliva, proteins, and microorganisms from the mouth.
Studies show that various microorganisms can settle on used sports mouthguards. The key factor here is not only, whether a mouthguard is cleaned.
The condition of its surface also plays a role.
A 2025 study showed that used and worn sports mouthguards can have significantly rougher surfaces than new ones. On these deteriorated surfaces, under the studied conditions, an approximately eight times higher bacterial colonization was observed.
A simple explanation is:
The rougher a surface becomes, the more structures bacteria can use to attach.
This is how bacterial communities and so-called biofilms can develop.

Cleaning your mouthguard: Is water enough?

Not all dirt is the same.
Simple rinsing with water can already remove a significant portion of fresh deposits. For example, a study on protein deposition on sports mouthguards showed that cold tap water could remove a large part of the proteins present after wear.
However, in the case of bacterial contamination and biofilm, more thorough cleaning can be significantly more effective.
In the study by Badari et al., simple water rinsing under the studied conditions removed around 60–70 % of the bacterial contamination. Mechanical cleaning achieved a much greater reduction.
Therefore, the key message is not:
Water does nothing.
Rather:
How thoroughly do you want to clean your mouthguard – and what cleaning methods is its material even capable of handling?

This is a given for babies – but is it also the case for mouthguards?

We barely ask this question for baby products.
Pacifiers, teats, or baby bottles are regularly in the mouth – and we take it completely for granted that they are cleaned thoroughly and, depending on the product, can also be treated at high temperatures.
This standard seems less obvious for sports mouthguards.
Many care instructions are not only based on how thoroughly we want to clean, but also on, what the material used can actually tolerate.
This leads to a simple question:

Why do we accept for a product that is regularly in our mouth cleaning methods we would hardly accept for other hygiene products?

But how thoroughly can you actually clean your mouthguard?

This is where the topic gets interesting.
Many sports mouthguards are made of thermoplastic materials. Temperature, mechanical cleaning, and chemical cleaning agents can – depending on the material and construction – affect their surface properties.
This creates a potential conflict of goals:
We want to clean a mouthguard as thoroughly as possible.
At the same time, we do not want to impair its fit, surface, or material properties.
That is why at The Guard we ask a different question:

If a mouthguard can lose its fit due to intensive cleaning, do we have a hygiene problem or a material problem?

Why we take a different approach with Swiss3DGuards

Therefore, when developing our mouthguards, protection, fit, and comfort were not the only things that mattered to us.
The Cleaning freedom also played a role.
Swiss3DGuards mouthguards can be cleaned with boiling water. Cleaning in a dishwasher is also possible.
At the same time, we do not deliberately set a rule for how often an athlete should clean their mouthguard this way.
Because people have different hygiene needs.
One person wants to clean their mouthguard thoroughly only occasionally. Another might do so much more frequently.
We believe this decision should rest with the athlete – not with the material.

More than 100 dishwasher cycles

We therefore wanted to know what repeated intensive cleaning does to our mouthguard.
In an internal practical test, a Swiss3DGuards mouthguard underwent more than 100 standard dishwasher cycles.
Afterwards, the mouthguard was worn again during sports.
During this time, no relevant changes in fit, shape, or surface were found either during wear or visual inspection.
It is important to note:
This test is not a clinical hygiene study and says nothing about how many bacteria are removed by a single dishwasher cycle.
It answers a different question:
What happens to our mouthguard if the user wants to clean it repeatedly and thoroughly?

Cleaning freedom instead of cleaning obligation

We do not want to dictate to you whether you clean your mouthguard with water, a toothbrush, a cleaning agent, boiling water, or another suitable method.
And we also do not want to dictate to you how often you should do this.
Our development principle is simpler:

Your hygiene needs should determine the cleaning method – not the condition or material of your mouthguard.

Because a product that is regularly in our mouth, in our opinion, should not determine, how clean we are allowed to keep it.

Conclusion

A sports mouthguard protects our teeth during training and competition.
However, it should not be forgotten that it comes into regular contact with saliva, proteins, bacteria, and other microorganisms.
Science shows that microorganisms can settle on sports mouthguards and that the condition of the surface can play a role here.
It also shows that different cleaning methods can have different levels of effectiveness.
Therefore, the question is not only:
How do I clean my mouthguard?
But also:
How thoroughly can I clean it without the mouthguard itself becoming the limiting factor?
For us, this leads to a simple principle:
Cleaning freedom instead of cleaning obligation.

Sources & Scientific Literature

Badari S. et al. (2025), BMC Oral Health · Glass R.T. et al. (2011), Sports Health · Hayashi K. et al. (2022) · Borro M. et al. (2024), Dental Traumatology · Protein Deposition on Sport Mouthguards (2024), Journal of Clinical Medicine · Youth Ice Hockey Mouthguard Study (2026).
Note: Information on more than 100 dishwasher cycles is based on an internal Swiss3DGuards practical test and is not part of a clinical hygiene study.