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Philippines, 24 Nov 2024 |
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$25 THOUSAND MOUTHGUARDS FOR MAYWEATHER JUNIOR? By Ed de la Vega, DDS PhilBoxing.com Tue, 07 Apr 2015  Soon after word that filthy rich Floyd Mayweather Jr will be using mouthguards worth $25,000.00 my e-mail account lit up asking me various questions regarding them. A few folks asked me via Tweeter, Viber and even the Philboxing Forum. I replied to some of the queries and still others I just ignored for personal reasons. Professionally speaking, the last I heard from the authorities in sports dentistry, mouthguards are strictly for protection from athletic oral and facial injuries. It is for this reason, I refrain from referring to them as ?mouthpiece? because the term does not connote anything that has to do with protection. Upon hearing and reading that Junior will be wearing a ?$25,000.00? mouthguard my first reaction was simply to laugh. Some folks indicated that their mouthguards usually costs anywhere from $150.00 to $1500.00 In my opinion, no mouthguard, by itself should cost $25,000.00! The process of fabricating mouthguards is no secret. The best ones according to the authorities at the American Dental Association and Academy for Sports Dentistry are made by pressure lamination. But if the price included several first class airfare tickets for the New York dentist to have them made somewhere and delivered and fitted by the same dentist in Nevada, the total cost of the service including the professional fee could be okay, albeit still high. I only hope the New York dentist who fitted the mouthguards to Junior in Las Vegas has a Nevada license. If he did not he could be charged for practicing dentistry in the State of Nevada without a license in the State. On the other side of the coin, if he simply had them fabricated in New York and then sent to Junior without the dentist checking and assuring the fit, then the service is not worth the money Junior paid. Personally, I think TMT bragging about the cost of Junior?s mouthguards does the reverse of what it intend to do. Perhaps they intend to show the world that he is rich and can buy anything he wants. That?s nothing new! There is no doubt Junior can afford many of those ?$25,00.00? mouthguards. After all, he is rich-very rich in fact. But, there is absolutely no need to do such a stunt. People in the boxing world know that he has money. Does he really think an ordinary boxing fan really care about how much his mouthguard cost? What an ordinary boxing fan really cares about is for Junior to engage and fight and not run around the ring as he usually does so they get their money?s worth for the tickets they paid for. In my humble opinion, I think who ever induced him to spend such amount for ?dollar encrusted mouthguards? is out of it. Such decorations have nothing to do with the true purpose of mouthguards- to give protection from athletic oral and facial injuries. But they can add to the price of the mouthguard to the advantage of who ever made them. Incorporating portions of a dollar bill in the mouthguard offer no added protection and in fact may even cause ?delamination?, granting that the mouthguard made for Junior are laminated under pressure. Bragging that his mouthguards cost $25,000.00 is only rubbing it to the faces of those who go hungry everyday. I hear there are quite a number of those folks in Grand Rapids. Wouldn?t it be more prudent, if perhaps Junior spent that $25T to make life a little bit more comfortable for those folks? But, then again, Junior may not even care about those folks. But that is just my opinion. Doing what they did to Junior?s mouthguards is contrary to the true tenets of a mouthguard. First as I mentioned, the ? $100 bill decoration? do nothing regarding protection. In addition it may reduce the resiliency of the mouthguard, and may even induce tearing because the additions do not bond to the mouthguard materials. Because the dollar was printed in a special paper, it may not adhere to the mouthguard material and may cause bubbles between the layers of the material. Further, it may cause discomfort when speaking and breathing. More importantly it may interfere with retention and fit during combat and to the critical need for sufficient mass in certain critical areas of the mouthguard. In my opinion releasing the news that Junior?s mouthguards cost $25,000.00 is just pure stunt and a ?rub-it-in-your-face? to the less fortunate boxers in the world some of whom are so poor that they can not even afford a decent mouthguard. But it was a great advertising for the dentist. It may also even be a taunt to Manny Pacquiao who is getting far less than what Junior will earn in the fight. It is simply a ?look at me, I am so rich even my mouthguards have $100 dollar bill incorporated in them.? What he does not know and perhaps has not been told, the dollar bill incorporated in his mouthguard do nothing for protection. It may even have the potential to do the reverse. But it sure satisfies the ego of Junior. I have never given Pacquiao any advice on anything except his mouthguards. But if he had asked me to do similar stuff to his mouthguards, I would frankly refuse because like all my patients, I care about the man and the protection he gets from the mouthguards I make for him. His mouthguards are simple but I designed and fabricate them based on certain criteria and specifications to provide maximum protection using one of the best equipment available in the market to pressure laminate the multiple layers of the mouthguard. In conclusion, if I was a betting man, I will bet that Floyd will not use any of those dollar-encrusted mouthguards on May 2nd. If he truly cares about his health and his looks, he will use a regular custom made mouthguard with just his logo or some sort of thin decals that would show his name or company But I would love to see him use that dollar- encrusted mouthguard during the actual fight. One solid left hook from Pacquiao squarely place in Junior?s mouth may necessitate the services of a dentist after the fight. It?s really okay because Junior can afford dental implants and fancy Beverly Hills-type dental restorations anyway. He can even have them custom made with gold and diamonds in addition to the dollar bills. Editor's Note: The author makes all Pacquiao's mouthguards ever since Pacquiao was fighting in the U.S. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.  |
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