University athletes will be trying out a new mouth guard that safely reproduces some of the effects of steroids and the human growth hormone, said Dr. Michael Bixby, a Rutgers College alumnus.
He said players from the Rutgers football and basketball teams would likely test the product as part of an intense University study that aims to determine the guard's reported benefits, although Jason Baum, assistant athletic director for football media and public relations, said he was not aware of any such plans at press time.
The Pure Power Mouthguard, manufactured by Pure Power Athletics Group, uses bilateral electrical stimulation to relax face muscles, allowing the rest of the body to work more effectively, according to a press release from the Nova Scotia-based athletic products firm.
"We are trying to get the muscles in your face and in your jaw to be in the optimal position, so that when you are doing your sports, those muscles are in a good spot," said Bixby. "When you have a misalignment there, it dominoes down your body through the spine."
Ninety percent of people don't align their jaws properly, according to the manufacturer's Web site, which causes facial muscles to be "unhappy." The company said there was a physical connection between these muscles and body posture, which in turn has an impact on athletic performance.
Many professional athletes were already using the mouth guard with significant results, said Bixby, including New Jersey Devils defenseman Colin White and Seattle Seahawks kicker Josh Brown.
"It really did help me this season," Brown said in a press release. "I had five or six tackles which is incredible for a kicker."
He said the mouth guard also allowed him to lift 20-30 lbs. more than he could otherwise.
Pure Power Athletics' clients include 150 professional and collegiate athletes from the National Basketball Association, National Hockey League and National Collegiate Athletic Association, among others, according to the press release, although currently, no University players use the PPM.
The release also said 50 Major League Baseball players will be fitted for the guard next week, amidst a Congressional probe into alleged steroid use in the MLB.
Despite the mouth guard's considerable benefits, Bixby said it doesn't carry any of the health risks associated with steroids, so he didn't think it offered players an unfair advantage.
"It's just a training aid," he said, "a very effective training aid…[and] if one person trains more, you have an advantage."
The performance enhancer uses state-of-the-art technology according to the press release, but Bixby said neuromuscular dentistry was not a new field and the last 45 years had seen a number of similar inventions.
"Before, the appliances were very basic and arbitrary," he said. "While people had some benefits, it wasn't as fine-tuned."
The mouth guard is still a new innovation however, and worldwide, less than 100 dentists are certified to install it. The low-end models cost around $800 while the professional versions of the appliance can be as much as $1600.
