Local dentists makes mouth guards meant to give super boost

If the New Orleans Saints lose the Super Bowl today, don't blame dentist Peter Noto.

He makes customized mouthguards that are supposed to improve athletic performance. The Saints are still the ones who have to go out and play.

Noto, who lives in Villa Park and works at Westchester Dental Center, hasn't worked on any of the Saints, but offers the same product they use for athletes who want to play better.

Neuromuscular mouth guards are supposed to help by properly aligning the bite, while relaxing the jaw and moving it generally down and forward, expanding the throat to let in more oxygen.

One manufacturer, Makkar, goes so far as to claim it aligns far-off joints in the body, and improves strength, balance, agility and flexibility.

It's used by an increasing number of professional athletes, including endorsement deals with basketball behemoth Shaquille O'Neal and naturally big-mouthed wide receiver Terrell Owens.

Numerous New Orleans Saints reportedly wear the Makkar Pure Power Mouthguard, at a retail cost of $2,000 each.

The catch is, the device hasn't been proven in studies in medical journals. One 1984 study of 14 Louisville football players in the Journal of the American Dental Association found no advantage to using an earlier device called a mandibular orthopedic repositioning appliance, or MORA.

Now, neuromuscular dentists say new computer tracking has allowed for much better positioning of the new mouthguards.

Makkar says it funded a college study that found significantly improved vertical leap and pedal power on a bike, but it hasn't released the report.

The ADA Web site recommends athletic mouthguards to protect teeth, but does not offer a recommendation on neuromuscular mouthguards. It does not recognize neuromuscular dentistry as a specialty.

Still, several dentists offer the product in Chicago and the suburbs. The device takes two visits to fit, and can cost from $500 to $2,000.

Noto has fitted it on a youth hockey player and two adults, one a weightlifter and a recreational basketball player, who said it helped them.

He uses the same fitting process more often to make orthotics for people with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain and headaches.

Today, Noto will be rooting for the Saints all the way.

"It's great advertising," he says - better than any million-dollar commercial.