No Mouthpiece Led to Vick's Injury?Research has shown that a properly fitted athletic mouth guard not only protects your teeth and jaws from injury, but help prevent concussions as well. Many concussions are due to the lower jawbone slamming into the base of the skull during contact. Even the best helmets don't protect from this type of injury. A mouth guard helps cushion these lower jaw blows and help reduce the risk of concussion.