Gas Exchange
Dena P. Garner, Wesley D. Dudgeon, Timothy P. Scheet and Erica J. McDivett (2011). The effects of mouthpiece use on gas exchange parameters during steady-state exercise in college-aged men and women. The Journal of the American Dental Association, 2011;142;1041-1047
New research published in the Journal of the American Dental Association finds that wearing an ArmourBite mouthpiece improves endurance, exercise intensity and recovery.
The study, led by Dr. Dena Garner, head of the Department of Heath, Exercise and Sports Science at The Citadel, showed that participants wearing an ArmourBite Mouthpiece during steady state exercise experienced significant improvements in their oxygen and carbon dioxide exchanges. Specifically, the participants wearing ArmourBite took in 29% more oxygen, while expelling 21% more carbon dioxide than the subjects not wearing the mouthpiece.
“Our initial research showed an improvement in endurance, but this latest study identifies the exact gas exchange mechanism that was contributing to those positive results,” said Dr. Garner. “These endurance findings are significant for any athlete, but particularly those involved in endurance sports such as running, triathlons, football, hockey and soccer.”
This gas exchange study is the latest in a series of mouthpiece research conducted at The Citadel and previously published in Compendium, a peer reviewed dental journal (July/August 2009). According to prior research, the ArmourBite Mouthpiece creates a slight separation between the lower and upper teeth, while in turn shifting the jaw down and forward. This repositioning has been proven to help reduce cortisol and lactate levels.
Bite Tech, Inc., created the ArmourBite technology featuring the company’s patented Power Wedges, and is available in Under Armour Performance Mouthwear that is custom fit by authorized providers or available in a “boil and bite” version sold at Under Armour’s key retail outlets.
Studies have proven that UA Performance Mouthwear will help an athlete improve strength, endurance and reaction time, reduce athletic stress, and with the mouthguard, reduce impact from blows to the jaw.
The Effect of Mouthpiece Use on Muscular Endurance
Bowen, A., Caffey, S., Garnett, C., Greene, G., McRae, C., Morin, T., Nolan, B., Shealy, T. and Garner, D. (February, 2009), Dept. of Health, Exercise and Sport Science, The Citadel, Charleston, SC 29409. The effect of mouthpiece use on muscular endurance. Presented at the 2009 Southeast Regional Chapter of American College of Sports Medicine (Birmingham, AL)
There have been many studies on how to improve muscular strength during exercise. Some research suggests that the use of a mouthpiece will increase muscular strength and endurance (Alexander, 1999 and Smith, 1982).
Purpose: To test if the influence of wearing a mouthpiece can improve muscular endurance. Methods: Participants took part in a 2 day experiment. On the first day, participants performed their maximum amount of repetitions at 75% of their 1 repetition maximum of the preacher curl exercise and bench press without a mouthpiece. On day 2, participants performed the same exercise with a mouthpiece (The Edge, Bite Tech Corp.). This mouthpiece was specifically fitted to each subject with a boil and bite technique. Results: The use of the Bite-Tech mouthpiece significantly increased muscular endurance in both males and females. The results were run using a dependent t-test using SPSS. Our dependent t-test results had a p-value of .03 for bench press (10% improvement) and a p-value of .004 for preacher curl (17% improvement). Conclusion: The results of this study show that the use of a mouthpiece improves one’s muscular endurance, specifically in the bench press and the preacher curl exercises.
