About Us

Who We Are

Protect. Educate. Inspire.

We are an outreach program looking to provide custom fitted mouthguards to athletes across New York City. We believe that mouthguards are an essential part of safety in athletics. Without them, athletes are at great risk for jaw, mouth, or other dental injuries. Despite the safety risks, however, custom fitted mouthguards are still left as optional—not a requirement— for many teams.

Our organization was established in 2016 by Business Manager, Ana Valdez, who recognized the lack of emphasis put on mouth and jaw protection in high school sports. Since that time, our team has been working to raise money in order to provide young athletes with better jaw, teeth, and mouth protection.

Empowering Athletes with
the Protection They Deserve Making Custom Mouthguards a
Standard, Not an Option Elevating Athletic Safety in
NYC with Custom Protection

For more information about anything, or to make a donation, Fell free to contact us today!

Founder and Organizer

Ana Shirley

Ana Shirley, Business Manager and Co-Owner of Upper West Side Dental in New York City, has worked in the dental field for 8 years. The amount of young athlete patients with severe dental injuries inspired her to take action. She found that custom fitted mouthguards were not used or required during game days. She’d see injuries to the mouth that resulted in teeth needing extractions, root canals or crowns.

“It’s heartbreaking to tell parents that their child needs a root canal or even worse, and extraction. I’ve seen so many young athletes go through the process of restoring their adult teeth which is not only expensive, but very emotional for the child and family.”

Over the past 3 years, Ana has done extensive research about mouthguards and partnered with Dr. Benjamin Shirley, DDS to donate custom fitted mouthguards to young athletes in New York City.

Volunteer Dentists

Dr. Benjamin Shirley

Has been practicing dentistry for 14 years and has his own practice in the Upper West Side of New York.

“I look forward to working with Mouthguard Angels to help address the lack of awareness and use of custom mouthguards. I am saddened when I treat young athletes with sports related dental emergencies that result in long term dental treatment. It’s imperative to educate and support our young athletes by donating custom mouthguards.”

We are a non-profit charity organization looking to provide mouth guards to athletes across New York City. We believe that mouthguards are an essential part of safety in athletics. Without them, athletes are at great risk for jaw, mouth, or other dental injuries. Despite the safety risks, however, mouthguards are still left as optional—not a requirement— for many teams.

Our organization was established in 2016 by Business Manager, Ana Shirley, who recognized the lack of emphasis put on mouth and jaw protection in high school sports. Since that time, our team has been working to raise money in order to provide young athletes with better jaw, teeth, and mouth protection.