Review of the new Gladiator Elite Combat Mouthguard.
This guard is apparently modelled after a design made for the IFL's Silverbacks(Team Miletich). It differs from the Elite model in that the guard is several milimeters thicker at rear of the guard.The front of the guard is approximately 1/8 of an inch thick and the rear is 1/4 of an inch thick. As a result when you wear the guard your bottom front teeth will not contact the guard, in essence creating a 1/8" gap or breathing channel. I had some initial reservations and concerns that your bottom front teeth may be more prone to being damaged or knocked out. Only one way to find out and that was to put it to the test.
So, instead of the double I've been using for sparring I wore the new Elite Combat. With your chin tucked it's exceedingly difficult to have any shot land flush with your lower front teeth. Only on my back with opponent in side control or mount could a shot be delivered that could make flush contact and knock out teeth. Even the likelihood of that occurring is low but may still be a cause for concern for some people. I always intended to put a lower impression into the guard. So I ran home and boiled a pot of water. Submerse the bottom of the guard in the boiling water for 25 secs then put it in your mouth and bite down creating the lower impression. I bit down until my lower front teeth just barely touched the guard. The bottom molars sit nicely in the guard yet hardly make a noticeable impression when viewed from the side. Nonetheless all the lower teeth make contact with the guard and your jaw is fully stabilized, no lateral movement. I can still breathe through the guard without any problems and I could still make a deeper lower impression though this would inhibit breathing.
So how does this new design compare to others. Well, with this guard you can make a lower impression that will prevent your jaw from moving laterally yet still allows you to breathe through your mouth. With my old Elite or even the Protech guard it was a bit difficult to make a lower impression without biting through the guard. As a result the lower impression in the guard was minimal and if you got tagged with a good shot to the jaw it would move laterally. With this new guard it's also quite a bit easier to exhale when throwing a strike without having to drop your jaw and thus provides better safety.
**Pics below**
Standard top view of guard.
Front of the guard-You can note the thickness in the front which is ~1/8"
Side view of guard. Again you can see how the back of guard is 1/4" thick and tapers to 1/8" in the front. Also note that the bottom impression cannot be seen.
Pics of the bottom of the guard, Here you can see the impression of my molars. In the second pic you can notice a slight impression of the front teeth.
Sorry for the poor quality of the pics but the clear color just doesn't pic up contrast and detail well. It does however illustrate the difference in the thickness of the guard.
This guard is apparently modelled after a design made for the IFL's Silverbacks(Team Miletich). It differs from the Elite model in that the guard is several milimeters thicker at rear of the guard.The front of the guard is approximately 1/8 of an inch thick and the rear is 1/4 of an inch thick. As a result when you wear the guard your bottom front teeth will not contact the guard, in essence creating a 1/8" gap or breathing channel. I had some initial reservations and concerns that your bottom front teeth may be more prone to being damaged or knocked out. Only one way to find out and that was to put it to the test.
So, instead of the double I've been using for sparring I wore the new Elite Combat. With your chin tucked it's exceedingly difficult to have any shot land flush with your lower front teeth. Only on my back with opponent in side control or mount could a shot be delivered that could make flush contact and knock out teeth. Even the likelihood of that occurring is low but may still be a cause for concern for some people. I always intended to put a lower impression into the guard. So I ran home and boiled a pot of water. Submerse the bottom of the guard in the boiling water for 25 secs then put it in your mouth and bite down creating the lower impression. I bit down until my lower front teeth just barely touched the guard. The bottom molars sit nicely in the guard yet hardly make a noticeable impression when viewed from the side. Nonetheless all the lower teeth make contact with the guard and your jaw is fully stabilized, no lateral movement. I can still breathe through the guard without any problems and I could still make a deeper lower impression though this would inhibit breathing.
So how does this new design compare to others. Well, with this guard you can make a lower impression that will prevent your jaw from moving laterally yet still allows you to breathe through your mouth. With my old Elite or even the Protech guard it was a bit difficult to make a lower impression without biting through the guard. As a result the lower impression in the guard was minimal and if you got tagged with a good shot to the jaw it would move laterally. With this new guard it's also quite a bit easier to exhale when throwing a strike without having to drop your jaw and thus provides better safety.
**Pics below**
Standard top view of guard.
Front of the guard-You can note the thickness in the front which is ~1/8"
Side view of guard. Again you can see how the back of guard is 1/4" thick and tapers to 1/8" in the front. Also note that the bottom impression cannot be seen.
Pics of the bottom of the guard, Here you can see the impression of my molars. In the second pic you can notice a slight impression of the front teeth.
Sorry for the poor quality of the pics but the clear color just doesn't pic up contrast and detail well. It does however illustrate the difference in the thickness of the guard.
You can get the guard now you just have to ask them. 
