Always wear your mouth guard

I was knocked to the ground while doing some clinch training the other day. No gloves or other protective gear on, except the cup and mouth guard. My training partner tried turning hard out of my clinch and I basically ate a spinning elbow (I am still trying to figure out exactly how this happened as it would constitute a very nice move if I could work it out). The upshot is that our trainer has told us to always wear our mouth guards, even when it does not seem like a necessity. I am fairly sure it would have cost me teeth without it.

Also the fifth time I have been legitimately knocked down while training (adding the elbow to a sidekick, a low round kick, uppercut to the liver, and nicely executed jab). And so it goes