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

Abstract

To examine the influences of design and finishing on mouthguard wearability and retention. 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. 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. 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.