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Since athletes do not recognize the importance of oral hygiene, previous reports have usually found a high incidence of caries and periodontal diseases among them. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the risk of caries when using mouthguards can be predicted by the effect of oral hygiene instruction. Twenty-two female lacrosse players who used mouthguards regularly were enrolled in this study with informed consent and approval from an institutional ethics committee. Questionnaires regarding daily oral hygiene and water-intake during sports activities, and TBI instruction were performed at the start of the experiment. pH level at the maxillary premolar surface and OHI-S score were measured at the start and after 3 weeks. Wilcoxon's Signed Rank test was used to clarify the difference in pH value and OHI score due to TBI intervention, and simple linear regression analysis was performed to clarify the relation between the change in each of pH value and OHI-S score due to TBI intervention. There was no significant difference in pH value before and after the TBI. However, a significant difference in OHI-S score before and after the TBI was found. Therefore, performing TBI appropriately appeared to be useful. Moreover, a significant correlation was obtained between the change in OHI-S score and the change in pH value. Therefore, it is suggested that improving the OHI-S score raises the pH value and reduces the risk of caries. It is suggested that the risk of caries among players who use mouthguards can be estimated from the effect of TBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]