This invention relates to dental mouthguards more particularly of the type worn by athletes in contact sports to protect their teeth.
It is well known for athletes to wear a mouthguard to protect their teeth from sharp blows and to protect the head and temporomandibular joint from concussion. Mouthguards are commonly worn in football, hockey, soccer, rugby, etc. There is also a need for athletes to wear mouthguard-type appliances to prevent the clenching of their teeth during physical exertion. Clenching can result in headaches, muscle spasms, damage to the teeth, and injury to the temporomandibular joint as well as pain in the jaw.
Dental mouthguards have been made from ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) which can degrade due to use and will become deformed and decompose over time. There is also known the use of a low density polyethylene polymer preferably combined with a tactifier resin such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,820,623 issued to Cook. The present inventor has also previously devised a two-piece mouthguard composed of separate pieces of flat, cushioning material made from polyolefin foam as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,523. The disadvantage of this mouthguard is its required assembly which is inherently more complex than a single piece mouthguard.
There is therefore a need in the art for a single piece mouthguard composed of a soft cushioning material which provides effective protection and which is so economical to produce, it could be utilized as a one use, sanitary disposable device.
In order to meet the needs in the art described above, a customizable dental appliance in the nature of a mouthguard has been devised which is composed of a fine closed-cell irradiation cross-linked polyolefin foam. The mouthguard includes two sections, a vertical component and a horizontal component. The foam is molded into a configuration such that the vertical component curves around the anterior section of the maxillary dental arch to the lateral aspects, just beyond the canine teeth. At the mouth temperature of 98.6 degrees F., the vertical component is held perfectly between the upper lip and teeth by the general pressure of lip musculature. There is a V-shaped notch in the midline of the vertical section to accommodate the maxillary labial frenum. The horizontal component provides a bite platform and a slit is located along the midline forming two rearwardly extending tabs to facilitate the curvature of the bite platform. Accommodative curvature of the vertical section is provided by spaces between the horizontal component and the ends of the vertical component forming deflectable wings in these regions.
The molded foam mouthguard of the invention is extremely inexpensive to produce and therefore may be produced in various sizes. Further adjustment may be made in the extent of the margins by cutting away material with common household scissors to accommodate the vast variations that exist in the anatomical form of the human mouth. Such adaptive qualities can be particularly beneficial. The mouthguard includes a vertical section which rests in front of the upper anterior teeth so that aspiration of the appliance farther into the mouth would be highly unlikely. Overall the device is large enough that it would not become an aspiration or swallowing hazard in the case of a traumatic episode.
Other uses and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those of skill in the art from the following drawings and description of the preferred embodiment, and it will be appreciated by those of skill in the art that the objects of the invention have been achieved. While the present invention will be described with the reference to a specific embodiment, the following description is illustrative of the invention and is not to be construed as limiting the invention. Various modifications to the present invention can be made to the preferred embodiment by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention. It will be noted here that for better understanding like components are designated by the reference numerals throughout the various figures of drawing which follow.
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Not only does the mouthguard of the invention provide the advantages of economy, adaptability and simplicity, but also it can be radiation sterilized. Furthermore, it does not break down in human saliva and the foam material of which it is constructed can be adapted to orthodontic hardware unlike harder unyielding mouthguards which are composed of vinyl. Other advantages will be apparent to those of skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It should be understood that there may be other modifications and changes to the present invention that will be obvious to those of skill in the art from the foregoing description, however, the present invention should be limited only by the following claims and their legal equivalents.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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4773853 | Kussick | Sep 1988 | A |
5447168 | Bancroft | Sep 1995 | A |
5692523 | Croll et al. | Dec 1997 | A |
6820623 | Cook | Nov 2004 | B2 |
20030150450 | Fitton | Aug 2003 | A1 |
20060112962 | Tebbutt et al. | Jun 2006 | A1 |
20070131232 | Bancroft | Jun 2007 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20070079835 A1 | Apr 2007 | US |