Keeping people's smiles intact

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Pauline Simundson holds a mouth guard and model teeth. (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

WARREN -- Pauline Simundson was taunted with names like Bugs Bunny while growing up.

Her buckteeth were so bad, the top incisors stuck out a full 12 millimetres in front of her lower incisors. Normal is about two to three millimetres.

Her front teeth angled so badly she could rest them on top of an apple and grip the apple that way.

So teeth have been an obsession for Simundson, from undergoing six years of corrective orthodontic work to going to college and becoming a dental assistant to her latest venture: a fledgling company that puts custom-made sports guards into the mouths of young athletes.

In her 12 years as a dental assistant, she's seen what sports can do to teeth.

"I've seen front teeth totally knocked out from a ground ball in baseball. I've seen the damage from hockey sticks and pucks to the mouth. I've seen teeth pushed right into the upper palate (the upper bone in the mouth)," she said.

Although people can buy generic sports mouthguards for as little as $4, customized guards are much better, she said. Generic guards are loose and fall out or even gag a person and are made of material that doesn't absorb shock as well. Being loose-fitting, they can slur a person's speech -- one reason kids avoid wearing them. They also don't go high enough to protect a person's gums, she said.

A custom-fitted mouthguard will stay in place. They are made of superior material and are high enough to protect the gums, which is where the teeth are rooted.

"It's crucial that people see the mouthguard as an essential part of equipment. You protect arms and legs, but why not protect your teeth? Your teeth can cost you just as much or more."

People can purchase custom sports guards through most dentists, but Simundson's business takes the service to the public. Her company is Champion Custom Sports Guards, and she travels to community clubs, arenas and high schools to take teeth impressions for customized mouthguards.

She's a kind of "have alginate, will travel" specialist, alginate being the substance used to take an impression of the maxillary dentition (upper teeth). "I can make them on site within 40 minutes. All my materials are fast-set," she said.

The alginate solidifies (turns to rubber) in 30 seconds. From the alginate, she makes a plaster mould, and from the plaster mould, she makes the form-fitting sports guard out of ethylene-vinyl polymer. "And that's dentistry, 101," she said. She has dental hygienists assist her, as required by the Manitoba Dental Association.

Simundson charges $45 for a custom-made mouthguard. Champion Custom Sports Guards is on Facebook.

Currently, she has about a week turnaround time from the moment she takes the teeth impression. The mouthguard is shipped in a case by mail.

She hopes to eventually be equipped to do the entire process in an hour from a travelling van. She sees her market as the Interlake, Winnipeg, southern Manitoba and west to Portage la Prairie.

Parents with kids in sports such as hockey and football are often too stretched for time to book an appointment with a dentist for a custom-made mouthguard, Simundson said. She knows whereof she speaks. Simundson, 41, and her husband have four sons and one daughter and they're big into sports. The four boys play football and the daughter plays hockey.

"I've had two dentists call and say it's a really good idea," she said of her mobile service. Most of a dentist's time is taken doing more important jobs such as crowns, root canals and fillings, she said.

But five million teeth are knocked out every year in North America and about 40 per cent of dental injuries are sports-related.

Simundson recommends mouthguards even for pickup games such as street hockey. Weightlifting is surprisingly hard on the teeth, although it's not a contact sport. "I've seen teeth totally ground down. They're clenching so much," Simundson said.

Her mouthguards come in splashy colours such as those of Winnipeg Jets uniforms and the black and yellow of the Boston Bruins.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 28, 2012 A11