Abstract
Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the method of cutting a notch in the mouthguard sheet to maintain mouthguard thickness.
Methods: The material used in this study was a mouthguard sheet 3.8 mm thick. Two sheet conditions were undertaken: one was an original sheet, and the other was a notched sheet. They were formed using a vacuum former to heat the sheets until they hung 20 mm from the baseline. We measured the thickness of the mouthguard at the incisal area (cusp), center area, and cervical area using a measuring device. The difference of thickness by the measurement point and the sheet condition was analyzed by two-way ANOVA.
Results: The thickness of the center and cervical areas of the notched sheet was thicker than that of all measurement points of the original sheet (p < 0.01) on the anterior teeth region. On the posterior teeth region, the thickness of each measurement point statistically differed with significance from the original sheet and the sheet with notches (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). The notched sheet was thicker than that of the original sheet (p < 0.05).
Conclusions: These results suggested that the mouthguard sheet with notches could maintain thickness of the mouthguard at the anterior and posterior teeth regions and thus might be effective in clinical use.
