Table 1.

Responses of dental practitioners and Orthodontists to each item based on current clinical practice, attitude, perception, and knowledge about mouthguards.

Items	Responses	Frequency distribution counts (%)		P value
		DP	Orthodontists
CURRENT CLINICAL PRACTICE AND ATTITUDE
1. In your dental practice, do you routinely ask your patients whether they play sports/contact sports as a part of history during the initial visit?	Yes	20 (36.4)	15 (28.8)	0.407
	No	35 (63.6)	37 (71.2)
2. Have you recommended a mouthguard to any of your patients in practice recently?	Yes	27 (49.1)	22 (42.3)	0.482
	No	28 (50.9)	30 (57.7)
3. If recommended in your clinical practice, which is the one advised routinely?	Stock type	19 (70)	10 (45)	0.067
	Boil and bite type	0	3 (14)
	Custom made	8 (30)	9 (41)
4. Have your patients reported any discomfort while using the mouthguard?	Yes	20 (74)	8 (36)	0.007*
	No	7 (26)	14 (64)
5. Have any of your patients reported trauma to the teeth while using mouthguards?	Yes	5 (19)	2 (9)	0.348
	No	22 (81)	20 (91)
6. Do you have an in‐office facility to fabricate custom‐made mouthguards?	Yes	14 (25)	17 (33)	0.409
	No	41 (75)	35 (67)
7. Do you charge your patients for the custom‐made mouthguards?	Yes	13 (93)	13 (76)	0.217
	No	1 (7)	4 (24)
8. If you found or/patient informed you that he/she is playing contact sport, would you recommend him/her to use of mouthguard during contact sport activities?	Yes	47 (85)	41 (79)	0.371
	No	8 (15)	11 (21)
9. Do you think it is necessary to get the patient's consent before recommending it?	Yes	40 (73)	29 (56)	0.067
	No	15 (27)	23 (44)
10. For orthodontic patients who play contact sports, whom do you think should make decisions regarding the use of mouthguards?	Orthodontist	46 (83.6)	38 (73.1)	0.120
	General dentist	5 (9.1)	2 (3.8)
	Coach	4 (7.3)	9 (17.3)
	Parents	0 (0)	2 (3.8)
PERCEPTION AND KNOWLEDGE ABOUT MOUTHGUARDS DURING ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT
11. What would be your specific recommendation regarding the use of mouthguards in patients with removable appliances/functional appliances?	Remove the appliance and wear a mouthguard during sport	50 (91)	43 (83)	0.125
	Refrain from the sport until treatment completion	4 (7)	3 (5)
	Mouthguard is not necessary during active sporting	1 (2)	6 (12)
12. What would be your specific recommendation regarding the use of mouthguards in patients with fixed appliances?	Wear a mouthguard during sport	48 (87)	43 (83)	0.092
	Refrain from the sport until treatment completion	6 (11)	3 (5)
	Mouthguard is not necessary during active sporting	1 (2)	6 (12)
13. Which sport do you think necessitates the use of a mouthguard?	Foot ball	1 (1.8)	1 (1.9)	0.472
	Basket ball	1 (1.8)	1 (1.9)
	Hockey	2 (3.6)	1 (1.9)
	Volley ball	2 (3.6)	1 (1.9)
	All contact sports	48 (87.3)	42 (90.4)
	Not necessary at all	1 (1.8)	6 (1.9)

^*Statistically significant