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The Pure Power Edge Mouth Guard is Golden
By: Alex Mardell
Date: November 23, 2008

"Imagine if every time you hit the gym, you could maximize your workout. Push your limits. Lift more. Be faster. Get more results." -This sounds like a pitch for yet another supplement but your wrong this is referring to the Pure Power Edge Mouth Guard.

My name is Alex Mardell and I am very happy to explain to you that my Pure Power Edge mouth guard has made a big difference in the way I train. I might even go as far to say it may have been the only difference that enabled me to win a gold medal in the bench press at the 37th Men's World Powerlifting Championships in St. John's, Newfoundland on November 8, 2008. I managed to lift 639 lbs at my 275 lbs weight class.

How is the Pure Power Edge different than a normal mouth guard?

This is not your average dentist appliance. In the past I have used a custom pro-fit mouth guard. It was provided to me by my dentist who did a simple cast of my teeth. It has helped me not grind my teeth together during training and competitions but that is about all it did- protect my teeth from wear and tear. No doubt an important concern as I do not want my teeth to be grinded down so much I will have trouble with eating a steak later in life. I had no idea that there was a mouth guard out in the marketplace that could not only protect my teeth but actually assist me while I weight train.

The Pure Power Edge is the most scientific mouth guard ever created and there is only fifty or so dentists across Canada who are trained to fit athletes (and non-athletes people with TMJD) with this customized, highly innovative appliance to specifically bolster your athletic performance. The idea of these fitted mouth guards is to align the athletes' jaw with their centre of gravity thus reducing the amount of stress and muscle tension that is placed on the neck, shoulders, back, pelvis and even knees. This will dramatically ease the posture of the athlete which will enable them to have increased strength, flexibility and range of motion.

This particular mouth guard follows the doctrine of neuromuscular dentistry which has been around for 40 years but it is until recently through technology as the TENS device, or Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation has been feasible as it is attached to your head. It accurately records the movement of your jaw within a millimeter. The trained dentist gets you to relax your face as much as possible and then clench your teeth as hard as you can. Meanwhile the electronic sensors which are attached to your cheeks, jaw, temples, and clavicle transmit vital information back to the designated computer to determine where the "sweet spot" of your bite is. That complex information is accurately honed to your specific bite. Apparently, everyone's bite is a little different and is just off a bit. As many athletes can attest: everything from the body is interconnected and if your jaw or bite can help you better align your body you cannot help but to achieve a higher level of performance.

Although I loved the concept I was still a bit worried that I would break the mouth guard as I am lifting. My past pro-fit was a soft malleable plastic and very durable. I have had hard plastic shelled bite guards for sleeping and sometimes I have awoken to find little bits of plastic in my mouth from my powerful bite breaking it down. But the Pure Power Edge is designed from the best of both worlds as a hard industrial type plastic is its shell and the inner mouth guard is a softer more flexible part all amalgamated into one. I am very proud to report after almost six months of usage and being worn practically every day it has held up to its original form.

What is the purpose of wearing a Pure Power Edge?

The thing that initially surprised me the most was how it was fitted for my bottom jaw, which is specifically called The Edge as it has no protective features in it and is common for athletes involved with weightlifting, running cycling, golf, track and gymnastics. Most mouth guards that I was familiar with are placed for the upper jaw (the Pure Power Mouth guard) mostly recommended for contact sports such as football, boxing, and hockey. (For the record PPM makes both and most people are familiar with the latter of the two as I believe Manny Ramirez is the poster boy for that particular mouth guard). This makes a lot of sense for my sport (powerlifting) as your bottom jaw is the part of the jaw that moves not the top and it is how the mouth guard can align your jaw more effectively. My Edge slightly shifts my bite to the left and in just a bit. Once it is in my mouth I could not get over how comfortable it is and then when I clenched my teeth you feel more solid. Your center of gravity, balance, power all changes as it really does make you feel like you have that extra gear.

The effects are evident immediately as your dentist will make you do some demonstrative tests on you to determine which mouth guard cast he made is more ideal for you. You instantly find out that you can bend over further, rotate your body further, and resist against external force easier by clenching your jaw around your personalized mouth guard. It is truly unbelievable once you go through these tests. The biggest thing that it has done for me is provide better balance within my body. This is very beneficial as I need to be firing my muscles at fractions of a second to be able to lift the heavy weight as controlled and as quick as possible. I am so completely comfortable with it in my mouth I often don't even realize I am wearing it unless someone asks me a question and my speech is slightly slurred.

How much more weight can you lift with the Pure Power Edge?

I have read some other articles indicating the pure power mouth guards' acts like a legal steroid as you can expect an extra 5-20% increase in sports performance. However, I feel that is just a flashy headline and is not indicative to the mouth guard itself. The dentist, Dr. Steven Cload from Calgary who made my Edge told me it roughly translates as such: if you're a golfer driving the ball 15 yards farther, if you're a baseball pitcher you can throw a fastball 3-4 miles an hour faster, or if you're a basketball player you can hit one more free throw out of ten. However you already have to be a skilled athlete dedicated to your particular sport to notice any real difference. I am sure an extra 3-4 miles per hour on my fastball is not going to raise any eyebrows. So in those performance terms only, it can be perceived as a steroidal gain. As any steroidal enhancer mainly helps with recovery to a certain degree but the Pure Power Mouth Guard is purely about your performance. You are still going to feel sore the next day and take just as long as normal to recover.

More specifically towards weight lifting or powerlifting I read on a website the Pure Power mouth guard claimed to increase this one dude's squat by 40 lbs. Before using the mouth guard he had a maximum squat of 405 lbs and now it is 445 lbs. This particular article did not give more details than that but I think it is rather bogus.

The best description I give people is that it gives me a more balanced base that translates into efficiency. As you're in the gym cranking out a tough set and you notice that your body has a natural tendency to shift over to its more dominate side to be able to squeeze out that extra rep or two but your form suffers and you look almost awkward while doing it? Well with using the mouth guard your form does not suffer, ever! Your body is firing evenly balanced no matter how much weight or how tired you are. That is a huge factor for injury prevention. I cannot explain to you how many helicopter squats or uneven benches I have seen over my career as a powerlifter. Quite simply when your form is better you're lifting is better making yourself squeak out a couple extra reps you normally would not be able to. So your max set of eight now becomes a max set of ten! In those terms the mouth guard can equate to a 20% higher performance. Also do not forget when your handling your heavy weights of 90-95+% of your max if your form is better, more tighter and controlled that particular lift will seem easier and tax your body less.

That fact alone is huge and this best kept secret will become better known with athletes in a wide spectrum of sports. They in turn will be trying to get any advantage they can and the Pure Power mouth guard will most likely become the norm in the years to come. Maybe next year the eight-time former Super heavyweight world bench press record holder, Finland's Kenneth Sandvick who placed second in the bench press at the Powerlifting Worlds next to me will have one of these mouth guards too!

What is the price?

Before you go rushing off to buy this amazing product there is one drawback and that its price. For the general public it is going to make your jaw drop with the average price of a custom fitted mouth guard with 2 dentist appointments (1 to cast and 1 to properly fit) is approximately $1500.00 A youth sized version is about half the cost but will probably need to be replaced annually due to growth.

Supplier Information: Alexander Mardell

View Comments [1]

Alex Mardell  (4:12pm Nov 20, 2008)

Also a nice side note is that I am especially happy to be wearing something that has been developed and still 90% owned by a Canadian company called Pure Power Athletics Group Inc. based in Truro, N.S.