title: A vacuum technique to increase anterior thickness of athletic mouthguards to achieve a full-balanced occlusion.
abstract: A full-balanced occlusion is essential for mouthguards. It has been reported that a balanced occlusion for upper and lower anterior teeth is essential for prevention of injuries occurring to the maxillary anterior teeth and alveolar bone caused by horizontal direct impact. The support of the mandibular teeth through the mouthguard is critical to prevent maxillary front tooth injury from a direct impact force. However, some vacuum mouthguard designs may not achieve a full-balanced occlusion. For example, when a player has a malocclusion, an elongated molar or premolar tooth, an open bite, a large over jet or a maxillary protrusion. An improved vacuum fabrication method is necessary to obtain full balanced occlusion in these cases as opposed to conventional vacuum type single-layer mouthguard technique.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sports Dentistry, Tokyo Dental College, Chiba, Japan. knakaji@tdc.ac.jp
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: Tomotaka
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Shintaro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.forename: Mami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shibusawa
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nara
authors.forename: Naito
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kaoru
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishigami
mesh_terms: D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control; D003767:Dental Occlusion, Balanced; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D007180:Incisor / Q000293:injuries; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000473:pathology; D008437:Maxilla / Q000293:injuries; D003765:Models, Dental; D009064:Mouth Protectors; D024343:Open Bite / Q000473:pathology; D019876:Sports Equipment; D013499:Surface Properties; D014618:Vacuum