Muay Thai mouthguards

Key facts:

• IFMA section 15.5, filename 11 May 2026: form-fitted, not red or pink, worn before the round.
• NHSBSA, August 2019 and the June 2025 Band 3 note: a sports guard is private treatment.
• Plymouth NHS leaflet, January 2024: custom-made is described as the best protection. Boil-and-bite can be remoulded over a brace.
• No mouthguard price in the catalogue. The £26.99 groin guard is a different SKU.

The competition rule

Section 15.5 of the IFMA rules we fetched says a gum shield shall be worn by all athletes before a round starts. It should be form-fitted. It should not be red or pink. Intentionally taking it out during the contest can draw a caution, a warning or a disqualification. If it comes out, the second rinses it before it goes back in. That is a contest rule. It is not a description of every UK gym on a Tuesday, and it is not a promise that a guard stops every dental injury.

A class can be stricter or looser. Ask. The 671 UK gyms in the directory, re-read 10 Oct 2026, are not tagged for a mouthguard policy, so we will not invent a percentage that require one.

What the NHS pages actually say

The NHS Business Services Authority bulletin of August 2019 answers its own question in one line: a sports guard cannot be provided on the NHS. If the practice provides one, that is private treatment. The Band 3 claiming guidance issued as a PDF in June 2025 lists sports mouth guards among items that are not permissible under a general dental services contract. Neither document prints a private fee. Neither document names Muay Thai.

University Hospitals Plymouth's leaflet, issued January 2024 and due for review in January 2026, calls a custom-made guard a close fit and the best protection. It says a boil-and-bite can be shaped again in hot water, and it offers that route while a fixed brace is on the teeth, because a close custom guard will stop fitting as the teeth move. It says some sports, and it gives boxing as the example, insist on a custom-made guard. The HTML we read recommended a guard for sports it listed. Muay Thai was not one of the names in that HTML. We will not add it.

The British Orthodontic Society advice sheet of July 2023 also says mouthguards are not available on the NHS, and that custom-formed guards have been shown to provide the best protection for orthodontic patients in contact sports. That is their sheet. It is not a lab result we ran.

Price

There is no dated mouthguard price in the 8 Oct 2026 catalogue extract. People reach for the nearest number. The nearest number is the RDX Aura Plus T-17 groin guard at £26.99, and it is the wrong product. Gloves at £39.99 and 4.5 m wraps at £18.99 are also the wrong product. The starter pair sums to £58.98 and still does not include a gum shield.

A custom guard is a conversation with a dentist or an orthodontist, including the private fee and the colour. If you are entering an IFMA contest, take section 15.5 with you so the colour is not an argument at the ring. If you are going to a first class, ask whether the gym expects a guard on night one. Many first classes are pad work. We do not have a counted share, so we will not print one.

Buy from a dentist or an authorised retailer. We do not earn from links on this page. We do not link marketplaces for this, and we do not describe a fitting you should do on yourself beyond what the Plymouth leaflet already says about softening a boil-and-bite.

This page is not dental advice and not a claim that any guard prevents every broken tooth. Pain, a loose tooth, or bleeding that will not settle belongs with a dentist or with NHS 111, and with 999 if you are very unwell. The sprain pages linked from the ankle guide are for joints, not for teeth.

Sources

• IFMA rules v3.057, filename 11 May 2026, fetched 10 Oct 2026. https://muaythai.sport Section 15.5: gum shield shall be worn, form-fitted, not red or pink.
• NHSBSA dentist bulletin, August 2019. https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/2019-08/Dentist%20bulletin%20August%202019%20-%20Spotlight%20-%20mouthguards.pdf A sports guard cannot be provided on the NHS.
• NHSBSA Band 3 claiming guidance, PDF dated June 2025. Sports mouth guards are listed as not permissible under a general dental services contract.
• University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust leaflet, issued January 2024, review January 2026. https://www.plymouthhospitals.nhs.uk/display-pil/pil-sports-mouthguards--5533/ Custom-made described as the best protection. Boil-and-bite can be remoulded over a fixed brace.
• Catalogue extract 8 Oct 2026: no mouthguard price. RDX Aura Plus T-17 groin guard £26.99 is a different product.

FAQs

Do I need a mouthguard for Muay Thai?

For an IFMA contest, yes. Rules revised 11 May 2026 say a gum shield shall be worn before the round starts, and that it should be form-fitted and not red or pink. A Tuesday class is the gym's rule, not automatically that rulebook. Ask the coach when sparring starts. The ankle page already says a guard belongs once knees and return shots are in the class. We are not adding a medical claim on top of that.

Can a dentist make one on the NHS?

NHSBSA's August 2019 dentist bulletin says a sports guard cannot be provided on the NHS, and that a practice which supplies one does so as private treatment. The June 2025 Band 3 guidance lists sports mouth guards among items that are not permissible on a general dental services contract. Ask the practice for the private fee. We have no catalogue price to print beside it.

Is a boil-and-bite acceptable?

Plymouth's NHS leaflet, issued January 2024, says a custom-made guard fits closely and provides the best protection, and that a boil-and-bite can be softened and remoulded, which it presents as practical while a fixed brace is moving the teeth. It names boxing as a sport whose regulations insist on a custom-made guard. The HTML we read did not list Muay Thai among the sports on that page. Your dentist, and your gym, decide the Tuesday version.

What colour, and what does it cost?

IFMA says the gum shield should not be red or pink. That is a competition rule we read, not a shop law for a beginner class. The 8 Oct 2026 catalogue has no mouthguard row, so there is no catalogue price on this page. The £26.99 figure in the same extract is an RDX groin guard. Do not copy it onto a gum shield. A dentist or orthodontist fits a custom guard. We do not.