Sports mouth guards are used to protect the athlete from dental injuries and reduce the severity of concussions which may occur from contact during athletic activities .  These mouth guards can come and three types which include stock mouthpiece which are a one size fits all variety , boil-and-bite mouthguards which are individually fitted using a soft vinyl type material and finally  laboratory custom fitted mouth guards which are processed in a laboratory .  Generally these mouth guards have a soft shock absorbing material either inside the mouth guard or on the exterior surface to reduce the severity of impacts received to the face.