title: A method to maintain the thickness of the mouthguard after the vacuum forming process: changes of the holding conditions of the mouthguard sheet.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate differences in the thickness of the mouthguard sheet according to the holding conditions during heating. The material used in this study was Sports Mouthguard (3.8 mm thickness), and two holding conditions of the sheet were undertaken: one was the condition that the sheet was held all around the periphery and the other was that the sheet was held at only four points. The sheets were formed using a vacuum former when the sheets were heated until they hung 2.0 cm from the baseline. We measured the thickness of each part of the mouthguard and calculated the ratio of changes in the thickness. The difference in the thickness by the holding conditions at the area of the sheet that fitted over the anterior teeth, palate, and posterior teeth was analyzed by the paired t-test. The results showed that the thickness of the sheet differed statistically and significantly at the regions of the sheet that fitted over the anterior teeth and posterior teeth (P < 0.01) and the palate (P < 0.05) according to the holding conditions of the sheet. The thickness of the condition that the sheet was held all around the periphery was thinner than that of the condition that the sheet was held at only four points. These results suggested that the thickness of the sheet was maintained by holding the sheet only at four points, and this new method could be an effective way to maintain the thickness of the mouthguard in clinical use.
authors.affiliation: Department of Removable Prosthodontics, The Nippon Dental University School of Life Dentistry at Niigata, 1-8 Hamaura-cho, Chuo-ku, Niigata 951-8580, Japan. fumichan@ngt.ndu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Fumi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mizuhashi
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koide
authors.forename: Mutsumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Ryo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mizuhashi
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000379:methods*; D009064:Mouth Protectors; D019876:Sports Equipment