Smart mouthguards: what are gum guards and how are they used?

This year, HISTORY has been made in the Six Nations with the use of smart mouthguards.

Scottish hooker George Turner became the first player in the competition's history to wear the device and receive a head injury assessment.

Turner was assessed in the 12th minute during Scotland's 20-16 defeat by France at Murrayfield, before returning to the field a few minutes later.

The reason for smart mouthguards?

Head injuries have been a big topic in sports in recent years, with concerns growing about the impact they have on players at all levels.

Experts, coaches and players believe not enough is being done to protect players in the long term from the negative effects of serious head injuries.

Former players have suffered the consequences of head injuries in sport: England's World Cup winner Steve Thompson suffers from dementia.

The late Scottish and former Newcastle Falcons player Doddie Weir was another victim to fall victim to this, having been diagnosed with motor neurone disease before passing away in 2019.

According to statistics obtained by the BBC, 300 players – including Thompson – from both rugby codes want to sue the games authorities over head injuries.

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How do smart mouthguards work?

The device was first introduced by World Rugby following a $2 million (£1.6 million) investment in October and is used to provide in-game alerts to doctors on the field.

This is done to let doctors know if the player is at risk of injury or shows signs of other injuries, including a concussion.

Sensors in the guard measure the impact on the head and the accelerations/decelerations.

For an impact greater than 70 g and 4,000 radians per second squared, a head injury assessment (HIA) is recommended.

What have people said about smart mouthguards?

Former Scotland international Rory Lawson described it as a “huge step forward”.

Lindsay Starling, World Rugby's science and medical manager, said: “These mouthguards have truly changed the game.

“There is a chance that repeated head impacts throughout a player's life could contribute to long-term brain health, so we must do what we can to protect players' brain health in all head impacts, not just concussions.

“This allows us to quantify the frequency and magnitude of main impacts, meaning we can respond to large impacts, better manage and ultimately reduce their exposure to them throughout their career.”

However, Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend urged caution around the technology following the controversy over France's victory over Scotland.

Turner became the first player in Six Nations history to be removed from a match after the mouthguard detected a collision that could have caused a concussion.

Townsend said: “I don't think anything else has come of it, but we just have to look at what we're doing here in introducing technology that could have an impact, for example, for not the right reasons.”