In terms of safety equipment I cannot think of a more important, yet most overlooked / under appreciated, piece of gear than a mouthguard!? And before patting yourself on the back for using one lets get one thing straight, if it ain’t custom fitted you may as well slap a piece of gum in between those chompers as it will do you about as much good as gum! Enter Damage Control Mouthguards and their custom fit three layer design specifically made for combat sports participants.
Whether you are a top tier competitor, or just average Joe hitting the dojo once or twice a week, it is essential that you have a custom fit mouth guard for any combat sport including BJJ / grappling. Accidents happen (I just popped my good friend Eric in the jaw Thursday night on accident. His comment…. “Maybe I should invest in a mouth guard.”) and regardless of our intentions with our training partners accidents can do a lot of damage. Believe me when I tell you that dental surgery is NOT cheap, nor fun:
“Sports dentistry is essentially the prevention and treatment of oral and facial injuries. Dental injuries are the most common type of facial injuries for athletes and the majority of these injuries are actually preventable.
Young athletes who have a tooth knocked out can anticipate upwards of $20,000 worth of lifetime dental costs associated with just that one tooth. In addition to these expenses, the person can suffer through lost work. The bottom line is that a tooth that is knocked out of the mouth and not reinserted in the first few minutes has virtually no chance of successfully being saved and the cumulative affect of multiple concussions can lead to lifelong medical problems. These two very scary topics make it imperative that athletes and their parents understand the importance of properly-fitted and fabricated athletic mouthguards to prevent injuries. emotional and psychological scars and pain.”
Delano Romero and his wife Dr. Vesna Delic DDS. operate a small dentistry business in my old dwelling Albuquerque, NM. And it was via Delano’s BJJ training that sparked the idea of making quality grade, yet stylish mouthguards for combat sports athletes. 
First and foremost the customer service is second to none. Delano was right back to me with questions and getting my impression out in a timely manner. Shipped priority via USPS the impression kit arrived in just a couple of days, and with the pre-paid return envelope Delano received it within a few day as well. All in all between ordering the guard, making the impression, returning it, and then receiving the final product was no more then 10-12 days weeks! Amazing turn around time.
As far as designs go Delano can do anything as you can see here in the portfolio, and he was again super quick about emailing me a demo of what my guard would look like (which was good as I originally had too dark of a color). I chose the BJJ line of mouthguard which includes your gym logo, rank, and name (I hate when I mix up mouthguards with my rolling homies!). But their is no color, nor design they can’t do which makes the customization process all the more fun.
Functionality has been second to none with Damage Control. I have had a custom fit guard that has served me very well for the past five years or so, but in those few years the technology and design of guards has improved. With the new Damage Control three tier layering protection is not compromised yet their is less mouthguard making breathing easier and virtually eliminating any kind of gag sensitivities one may have. In the month I have been wearing it I have witnessed no visible wear and tear and the fit has been perfect from day one.
Amazing customer service, a very reasonable price starting at $119+ (keep in mind most dentist’s will charge you $400-500 for a custom fit mouthguard!), and a solid product makes for a 10/10 in my book for Damage Control. The impression kit comes with easy to follow instructions and extra putty just in case you [email protected]#k up the first go around, so really this whole kit is fool proof.
For more info, or to order your own custom fit guard contact Delano at [email protected] / 505-804-8941 and tell him Jake sent you from The Ground Never Misses!
CheersJake ALL PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF:DKB IMAGES