Protective mouth guard

Abstract

A protective mouth guard primarily for use in contact sports has a handle that is convenient to hold while taking the mouth guard in and out of the mouth and while holding it. Some embodiments have about a ¾″ by ¾″ area for two-fingered holding; some have a downward extending loop providing for one-fingered holding. Versions also have a loop for being retained on a helmet face guard in addition to a shaft portion that provides a place other than the in-mouth portion for grasping while performing the face guard retention action.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A mouth guard comprising:
 a) generally U-shaped in-mouth portion so configured and shaped as to generally follow the pattern of teeth in a mouth;   b) an elongated tether strap extending forward from a central, front point on the U-shaped portion;   c) a readily grip-able handle extending downward from the tether strap from a point on the tether strap a distance from the U-shaped portion such as to leave a strap portion long enough to be readily grasped with thumb and an opposing finger;   further, the handle defines an opening shaped and sized to accommodate a user's forefinger extending through the opening to readily grasp the handle with that one finger and not requiring the thumb tip or other finger tips for grasping; the handle being at least semi-rigidly coupled to the in-mouth portion that firmly grasping the opening with one finger provides positive positional control of the in-mouth portion.   
     
     
         2 . The mouth guard of  claim 1  where the handle is one-finger grip-able via a finger-sized opening. 
     
     
         3 . The mouth guard of  claim 1  where the distance between handle and mouth portion is at least about ¾″ in length. 
     
     
         4 . A mouth guard comprising:
 a) a generally U-shaped in-mouth portion so configured and shaped as to generally follow the pattern of teeth in a mouth;   b) an elongated tether strap extending from the front of the in-mouth portion;   c) a finger hold handle depending from the tether strap;   further, the handle comprises a generally planar region with two opposing, parallel planar sides; the handle does not extend above the plane of the user's upper teeth in use; further the sides of the finger hold are sized and shaped to have surfaces readily grasped by a user's opposed thumb and forefinger.   
     
     
         5 . The mouth guard of  claim 4  where the handle is substantially a rectangular solid. 
     
     
         6 . A mouth guard comprising:
 a) a U-shaped mouth portion;   b) an elongated tether strap extending outward from the mouth portion;   c) a handle depending downward from the strap, the handle comprising an open loop of a resilient material.   
     
     
         7 . The mouth guard of  claim 6  where the open loop is open in a direction facing the user when in use. 
     
     
         8 . The mouth guard of  claim 7  where the length of the tether and the size and orientation of the open loop are such that with the tether attached to the lowest bar of a football facemask, the loop readily fits over the uppermost bar of the facemask.