Local orthodontists Dr. Raymond Kubisch and Dr. Andrew Ferris are “mouth” guarding Santa Barbara and Goleta’s football and basketball team smiles.

Kubisch and Ferris Orthodontics has donated more than 450 free custom-fitted mouth guards to high school, college and organized youth team athletes in our community to help protect them during practice and competition.

According to the National Youth Sports Foundation, an athlete is 60 times more likely to sustain damage to the teeth when not wearing a protective mouth guard or an improperly fitted one.

“More than 5 million teeth are knocked out each year due to sports injuries and trauma,” Dr. Ferris said. “Our goal is to offer these young athletes a custom-fitted mouth guard to protect them from dental trauma and related head injuries often associated with contact sports.”

To date, Kubisch and Ferris Orthodontics has made a charitable donation of more than 450 custom-fitted mouth guards to Santa Barbara County youth, including Santa Barbara High School, Dos Pueblos High School, San Marcos High School, Bishop Garcia Diego High School, Santa Barbara Youth Football League and Westmont College basketball teams.

Dr. Kubsich and Dr. Ferris grew up playing contact sports. Their sports background coupled with their knowledge in the dental field, made the idea for donating team mouth guards a perfect fit.

“A custom fabricated mouth guard provides better protection and offers a level of comfort that gives athletes the ability to breathe and communicate better while wearing them,” Kubisch said.

“Team safety is always our priority,” said Douglas Caines, head coach of the Santa Barbara High School football team. “Kubsich and Ferris Orthodontics have the expertise and technology to make our team safer on the field. A mouth guard is a small but vital piece of equipment our players cannot do without.”

“EmBRACE Excellence” defines Kubisch and Ferris Orthodontics, a full‐service orthodontic office for children, teens and adults specializing in beautiful smiles using traditional braces, and clear invisible Invisalign and Invisalign Teen aligners. It is located at 3820 State St., Suite D in Santa Barbara. For more information, call 805.687.7417 or click here.

— Adrienne Sciacca is a marketing consultant for Kubisch and Ferris Orthodontics.