Influences of palatal side design and finishing on the wearability and retention of mouthguards

Yoshinobu Maeda ^1*, Hiroyuki Machi ¹ and Tsuyoshi Tsugawa ¹

¹ Osaka University, Japan

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: maeday{at}cwa.bai.ne.jp.

Accepted 11 September 2006

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the influences of design and finishing on mouthguard (MG) wearability and retention.

Materials and methods: Seventeen students at the Dental Technician Institute at Osaka University School of Dentistry participated to this study after providing informed consent. For each student, a single-layer custom-made MG was fabricated from a 3.8 thick ethylene- vinyl acetate sheet using a standardized procedure to obtain a precise fit. Each MG was modified by changing the margin location and shape via five consecutive steps. At each step, questionnaires with a visual analog scale regarding wearability (comfort, breathing, speaking, swallowing, lip closure, temproromandibular joint (TMJ) fatigue and swallowing) and retention were recorded after wearing the MG for 5 minutes. Statistical analyses were carried out among the steps using Wilcoxon's signed-rank test with a significance level of p<0.05.

Results: Significant improvements were found for comfort, breathing, speaking and swallowing by trimming the palatal margin to the cervical area, smooth finishing and occlusal adjustment of the MG (p<0.01). No significant differences were found for retention throughout the procedure.

Conclusions: Within the limitations of this experimental study, design and finishing at the palatal side appear to have significant influences on MG wearability, but not retention.

Key Words: design, finishing, mouthguard, visual analog scale, wearability

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?