Football players began using rubber mouth guards to protect their teeth in the 1880s, but oral protection entered the modern age in 1947 when Rodney O. Lilyquist, a Los Angeles dentist, created a molded acrylic mouth guard for use by athletes in multiple sports.

A key to players using the modern mouth guards was to ensure they did not lose them, a problem solved by strapping the mouth guard to the face mask. But what did players do before face masks? TCU’s Bill Alexander illustrates one solution to the problem: attach the mouth guard to your chin strap.

The American Dental Association recommended mouth guards for all contact sports in 1960. High school players nationwide were required to wear mouth guards starting in 1962, the same year the NCAA recommended mouth protectors for all players. The NCAA made mouth guards mandatory in 1973.

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