RESUMEN
The use of mouth guards in contact sports effectively prevents oral injuries and preserves oral structures. Many contact sports in which a high impact collision could easily cause oral injury do not require athletes to use mouth guards. We discuss the circumstance of oral injury and awareness concerning the use of mouth guards in Japanese high school soccer and rugby and basketball teams.<BR>During an interview, each athlete was asked a series of questions concerning their history of oral injury while participating in sports and actual circumstances of using a mouth guard.<BR>The incidence of oral injuries was 32.3% in soccer, and 56.5% in rugby, 46.6% in basketball while 0.8% of athletes possessed some type of mouth guard in soccer, 24.1% in rugby and 1.3% in basketball. Although 81.8% of soccer athletes and 81.2% of basketball athletes thought mouth guards were unnecessary, only 26.2% of rugby athletes shared this opinion. Many athletes playing soccer and basketball had insufficient knowledge about mouth guards, and were not interested in preventing oral injury. Due to the diversity of sports that can produce oral injury, it is recommended that mouth guards be worn by all individuals participating in rugby, soccer and basketball.