SISU NextGEN vs. Damage Control

Best Mouth Guard for Roller DerbyRoller derby is arguably one of the most high impact competitive sports played. It is very important for derbiers to arm themselves, and protect their head, knees, elbows, mouth and more for bouts and practices in order to stay safe and avoid injury. In this showdown, we’re pitting two awesome competitors in mouth guard design and technology — SISU NextGEN vs. Damage Control (DC). These great companies have a proven track record of success and provide the best mouth guards on the market. Like any showdown, however, only one can be crowned! Read on to see the results, vote, and crown a champion!

In 2016, SISU Gen 1 beat out Damage Control by about 25% in our poll and SISU’s NextGen won by almost 50% in 2017 which made them the clear winner for 2016 & 2017. We have updated this article with new information for both brands to include new features for 2018. Check out the awesome information and videos, then vote on your favorite. If you’re ready for an amazing showdown, let’s get started!!

Mouth Guard Material and Protection

SISU NextGEN mouth guards were developed with the help of a prestigious grant from the National Science Foundation and were awarded 5 patents already with several still pending. SISU says that you should not associate the protective of a mouthguard on thickness alone and back up their super thin guard with a $35,000 dental warranty! Check out the 3 reasons below that makes a SISU mouthguard more protective than traditional guards:

  • It’s custom fitted to the individual user so it protects all the small crevices and corners that a boil and bite can’t get to.
  • It’s made from a hard and non-compressible material that doesn’t cave on impact like soft gel mouthguards.
  • Upon impact, the perforations oscillate and spread the force throughout the entire surface of the mouthguard rather than to a single point.

Damage Control mouth guards are made of a custom material called PolyShok. This is designed to be very absorbent – up to 150% more absorbent than traditional mouth guards. DC has an impressive history – including large amounts of scientific research, granted by technical assistance from the New Mexico Small Business Assistance Program, offering laboratory and scientific engineers as researchers who helped the owner discover the best shock absorption and additional specs for the most effective mouth guard. After testing hard plastic polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyethly vinyl acetate (EVA), and PolyShok (EVA combined with polyurethane additive), PolyShok proved to be the most shock absorbent.

Thickness

The SISU NextGEN MAX adult mouth guard is made for high-impact sports, and is 2.4mm thick, which is about 30% thinner than the typical mouth guard. The SISU NextGEN AERO mouth guard, designed for team sports – potentially not strong enough for competitive derby bouts – are 1.6mm thick. This is about 50% thinner than the average mouth guards out there. We might recommend the MAX, but if you don’t have a habit of running into opponents and walls teeth-first, the aero may be an option for you and it is thinner.

Damage Control did a lot of research to determine the appropriate thickness for each sport – including roller derby, MMA, basketball, and more. Their team of experts, backed by extensive scientific research and engineering, have a calculated formula that is tried and true for each of the sports. Derbiers using this mouth guard speak highly of it, and it is a comfortable, durable, thin design with a tight fit.

Comfortability

Derby skaters comment that SISU NextGEN mouth guards offer not only great protection, but really love that they can easily talk, breathe, and drink while wearing them – which makes a huge difference.

Damage Control offer mouth guards with comfort and ultimate protection, as well as built in shock pads. DC uses a very soft material that makes for excellent comfort.

Design

Damage Control’s mouth guards have awesome designs and themes for every derby personality! “Stare Down”, “Bout Time”, “Shock Block”, and “Penalty Princess” are just a few of their seriously cool options. You can show off your derby style and moves in a mouth guard! They even have an entire line of State Flags, Country Flags, Fangs, and Teeth. Gotta hand it to Damage Control for their creativity and awesome animation-style designs. DC’s Custom Fit mouth guards come with the option to personalize the guards with your own artwork, text, graphic – and if you have an idea in mind that isn’t already out there, their graphic design team will design it for you to create your very own design! Learn more about Damage Control in the video below.

SISU’s NextGEN adult mouth guards are offered in a number of colors, including Snow White, Charcoal Black, Electric Blue, Royal Blue, Hot Pink, Spring Green, Purple Punch, Sunny Yellow, Tangerine Orange, Forest Green, and Intense Red. The plastic guard is covered with small holes that help with talking, breathing, and drinking – which a lot of mouth guards make these things difficult to do. The holes also help strengthen the material by oscillating under impact, similar to how support systems function for a bridge. Finally, the holes help with the fitting of your SISU NextGEN because you can suck out the air and create a custom fit. Check out more about SISU NextGEN mouth guards in the video below.

Fit and Mold Options

Damage Control offers both moldable and custom fit mouth guards. The moldable high impact version is easy to custom-fit. Just boil the mouth guard and bite down on it while hot to make a custom piece for your mouth shape and teeth. Interestingly, the High Impact Mouth Guard comes with a $10,000 Limited Dental Warranty. DC definitely puts their money where your mouth is!

DC’s Custom Fit Mouth Guard is at a higher price than the mold “boil and bite” version, but comes with a $25,000 Limited Dental Warranty. Custom mouth guards are designed by Damage Control especially for you. Their team decides on thickness based on the sport you play. When you purchase the Custom Fit, DC sends you an impression kit to make a mold of your mouth, which you send back to them for a perfect fit. Need more info on fitting these mouth guards? This video is full of great information.

SISU NextGEN also uses moldable technology. Their instructions say to heat water to 140 degrees Fahrenheit – hot to the touch, but not boiling – and then place the SISU NextGEN guard into the water in a bowl, waiting until it feels soft enough to mold (using a fork or other utensil – not your finger – OW!). Once the mouth guard feels soft enough, grab it with a fork, and insert the mouth guard, biting down on the bar in the middle, keeping the mouth guard steady to get the best mold. SISU’s NextGEN mouth guards are remoldable up to 20 times – so if you don’t get it right the first time, or think you can get a better fit, you have quite a few chances!

Taking all of this into consideration, we think SISU NextGEN and Damage Control are clearly WINNING in the mouth guard competition no matter what category we try! Check out their products on our site, but before you do let us know your favorite via the poll on this page! Watch the video below to see how to best fit your own SISU NextGEN mouth guard.

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