PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Y Maeda AU - H Machi AU - T Tsugawa TI - Influences of palatal side design and finishing on the wearability and retention of mouthguards AID - 10.1136/bjsm.2006.030874 DP - 2006 Dec 01 TA - British Journal of Sports Medicine PG - 1006--1008 VI - 40 IP - 12 4099 - http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/40/12/1006.short 4100 - http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/40/12/1006.full SO - Br J Sports Med2006 Dec 01; 40 AB - Objectives: To examine the influences of design and finishing on mouthguard wearability and retention. Materials and methods: 17 students at the Dental Technician Institute at Osaka University School of Dentistry, Osaka, Japan, participated in this study after providing informed consent. For each student, a single-layer custom-made mouthguard was fabricated from a 3.8-mm-thick ethylene-vinyl acetate sheet using a standardised procedure to obtain a precise fit. Each mouthguard was modified by changing the margin location and shape through five consecutive steps. At each step, questionnaires with a visual analogue scale regarding wearability (comfort, breathing, speaking, swallowing, lip closure, temporomandibular joint fatigue and swallowing) and retention were completed by subjects after wearing the mouthguard for 5 min. 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 mouthguard (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 mouthguard wearability, but not retention.