Posted: Friday, March 12, 2010 --- 4:12 a.m.

In this morning's family first - a great idea for parents of athletes.

Too often, local dentists see kids come in with chipped or missing teeth, some of whom used a mouth guard that didn't work.

That's why dentists offices like First Choice in Madison are using "Mouth Guard", a custom fit option.

William Fuhrmann's boys play hockey, soccer and la crosse and he says the procedure was quick, easy and painless.

" We feel it's much less expensive to get the mouthguards custom fit than the dental work you can have later without them. "

"Anything that you buy that fits anybody else isn't going to fit very well or perform very well so we feel the ones custom fit are going to perform better and fit your teeth."

Dr. David Penwell from first choice sees kids come in with chipped or missing teeth all the time.

He says you can get the boil and bite kind at the drug store but he says they're not as likely to stay in place when an athlete gets hit.

Someone who doesn't have a custom fit mouth guard in is likely to spend a lot more money on tooth repair than the mouth guard which costs a couple hundred dollars.