Are all mouthguards the same and safe to use? Part 2. The influence of anterior occlusion against a direct impact on maxillary incisors

• Published in: Dental traumatology 2008-06, Vol.24 (3), p.360-365
• Main Authors: Takeda, Tomotaka, Ishigami, Keiichi, Nakajima, Kazunori, Naitoh, Kaoru, Kurokawa, Katsuhide, Handa, Jun, Shomura, Masahito, Regner, Connell Wayne
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Athletic Injuries - prevention & control; Baseball - injuries; Dental Models; Dental Occlusion, Balanced; Dental Stress Analysis; Dentistry; Equipment Design; Equipment Safety; Incisor; Maxilla; Mouth Protectors; Sports Equipment; Tooth Injuries - prevention & control
• ISSN: 1600-4469; 1600-9657
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-9657.2008.00576.x

–  The purpose of this study was to clarify the influence anterior occlusion, of mouthguards, has on protecting against a direct collision to the maxillary anterior teeth. In other words, the support mandibular dentition has when wearing a mouthguard. Two types of mouthguards were used for this study, one with an appropriate anterior occlusion or a mouthguard with positive anterior occlusion (MGAO+) and another which was a single‐layer mouthguard lacking the same occlusion or a mouthguard with negative anterior occlusion (MGAO−) but with the same thickness on the buccal side. The instruments used for testing were a pendulum‐type impact device with two interchangeable impact objects (a steel ball and a baseball), with a plastic jaw model having artificial teeth. Four testing conditions were observed: one with the jaw open without a mouthguard (Open NoMG), the second with the jaw clenching (loaded with 30 kg weight) without a mouthguard (Clench. NoMG), the third with the jaw clenching with MGAO− (Clench. MGAO−) and the last with the jaw clenching with MGAO+ (Clench. MGAO+). The results are as follows: both types of mouthguards showed the effects in reducing the distortion of the teeth. However, the effect was significantly obvious (steel ball = about 57% shock absorption ability, baseball = about 26%) in the mouthguard with anterior occlusion or support by lower dentition through mouthguard (Clench. MGAO+) than Clench. MGAO−. Thus, the influence of anterior occlusion of mouthguards or the support of mandibular dentition through wearing a mouthguard (MGAO+) is indispensable in reducing the impact force and tooth distortion. The results of this research should further contribute to the establishment of guidelines for safer mouthguards.