The Effect of Wearing a Customized Mouthguard on Body Alignment and Balance Performance in Professional Basketball Players

Hae Joo Nam, Joon-Hee Lee, Dae-Seok Hong and Hyun Chul Jung
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Hae Joo Nam: Department of Health Rehabilitation, O-san University, 45 Cheonghak-ro, Osan-si, Gyeonggi-do 18119, Korea
Joon-Hee Lee: Department of Coaching, College of Physical Education, Kyung Hee University (Global Campus), 1732 Deokyoungdaero, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 17014, Korea
Dae-Seok Hong: Department of Health Rehabilitation, O-san University, 45 Cheonghak-ro, Osan-si, Gyeonggi-do 18119, Korea
Hyun Chul Jung: Department of Coaching, College of Physical Education, Kyung Hee University (Global Campus), 1732 Deokyoungdaero, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 17014, Korea

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 17, 1-9

Abstract: The present study examined the influence of a customized mouthguard on body alignment and balance performance in professional basketball players. Twenty-three professional male basketball players, aged 25.8 ± 8.6 years old, were voluntarily assigned to participate in three treatments, including no treatment (no mouthguard), acute treatment (wearing a mouthguard), and repeated treatments (8 weeks follow-up). Body alignment status, such as spinal and pelvic posture and balance performance, were measured at each time point using a 3D Formetric III (Germany) and a postural control device (Posturomed 202, Germany), respectively. A repeated MANOVA analysis with a Bonferroni post hoc test was applied, and the adjusted p -value was set at 0.02. No significant treatment effect was observed in body alignment ( p = 0.302). However, univariate analysis showed a significant difference in pelvic torsion, where it was decreased after acute and repeated mouthguard treatments compared to no treatment ( p < 0.001). Kyphotic angle also increased significantly following 8 weeks of treatment compared to no treatment ( p < 0.001) and acute treatment ( p < 0.002). There was a significant treatment effect on balance performance ( p < 0.001). Both static and dynamic balance performance improved following 8 weeks of treatment ( p < 0.001). Our study revealed that a customized mouthguard provides a benefit to balance performance. Notably, repeated treatment impacts on balance performance more than acute treatment. Although our findings did not show a significant effect on body alignment, some positive results, such as pelvic torsion and kyphotic angle, may provide substantial information for developing future longitudinal studies with large sample sizes.

Keywords: body alignment; static balance; dynamic balance; basketball; mouthguard (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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