Patent Application
20080081852
The composition that is fundamental of the mouth guard composition according to the present invention comprises 39 to 98% by weight of styrene block copolymer; 1 to 60% by weight of one or more kinds of thermoplastic resins selected from the group consisting of aliphatic cyclic saturated hydrocarbon resin, terpene resin, aliphatic petroleum resin, and ester gum; and 0.1 to 40% by weight of one or more kinds of waxes selected from the group consisting of mineral wax, synthetic wax, plant wax, and animal wax.
The styrene block copolymer used in the mouth guard composition of the present invention may include, for example, a block copolymer of polystyrene and polybutadiene, a block copolymer of polystyrene and polyisoprene, and a block copolymer of polystyrene and polyolefin. Among them, the block copolymer of polystyrene and polyolefin is the most desirable in view of the hardness and the softening point temperature and the like required for the mouth guard. This styrene block copolymer is required to present in the mouth guard composition by 38 to 98% by weight. When it is less than 38% by weight, the hardness required for the mouth guard is not sufficient, while when it is over 98% by weight, the softening point temperature of the mouth guard composition is increased which will make the composition difficult to be produced or prepared.
One or more kinds of thermoplastic resins selected from the group consisting of aliphatic cyclic saturated hydrocarbon resin, terpene resin, aliphatic petroleum resin, and ester gum provide an effect to improve the flowability at the time of softening by heating and, further, provide an effect to make it difficult to cause plastic deformation when used together with one or more kinds of waxes selected from the group consisting of a mineral wax, a synthetic wax, a plant wax, and an animal wax, which will be described in more detail below.
Although a number average molecular weight of common aliphatic cyclic saturated hydrocarbon is in the range from 500 to 900, that having 550 to 650 of a number average molecular weight is preferred in order to achieve readily softening for the production of the mouth guard. For the terpene resin, there is terpene resin which is hydrogenated, other than the typical terpene resin and such the hydrogenated terpene resin may also be used. It is preferred that any terpene resin has a number average molecular weight in the range from 400 to 800. For the aliphatic petroleum resin, that having a number average molecular weight in the range from 700 to 1,200 are preferably used. These thermoplastic resins may be solely used or in the combination of two or more thereof may be used, and the content thereof is in the range from 1 to 60% by weight, more preferably in the range from 10 to 25% by weight based on the entire composition for the mouth guard. When this component is less than 1% by weight, the effect to improve the flowability at the time of softening by heating is not sufficient, while, when it is over 60% by weight, the strength of the mouth guard will be reduced to the level where the mouth guard can not withstand strong biting force. The ester gum prepared by esterifying rosin with glycerine is common and that prepared by esterifying rosin hydride with glycerine may also be used.
One or more kinds of waxes selected from the group consisting of mineral wax, synthetic wax, plant wax, and animal wax provide a property of cutting off plastic deformation at the time of strong force being applied to the mouth guard when used together with the resin components as described above. As the representative wax for each kind thereof, paraffin wax, microcrystalline wax and the like for the mineral waxes; low molecular polyethylene, Fischer-Tropsch wax and the like for the synthetic waxes; carnauba wax, candelilla wax and the like for the plant waxes; and bee wax, shellac and the like may be exemplified.
The content of the wax component is in the range from 0.1 to 40% by weight, more preferably in the range from 1 to 20% by weight based on the entire composition for the mouth guard. When it is less than 0.1% by weight, the mouth guard will easily cause plastic deformation. When it is over 40% by weight, the tear strength will be reduced and, as a result, abrasive resistance is deteriorated.
For the polyolefin resin, high density polyethylene prepared by polymerizing ethylene monomers, low density polyethylene prepared by a high pressure process, linear low density polyethylene and the like can be exemplified. For the polypropylene resin, a homopolymer prepared by homopolymerizing propylene, a copolymer of propylene with ethylene and the like can be exemplified. The content of this polyolefin resin being in the range from 0.1 to 20% by weight, in particular, 1 to 10% by weight may be preferably used. When it is less than 0.1% by weight, the hardness is low and the permanent deformation is large, while when it is over 20% by weight, the hardness is so high that it is very difficult to attach or detach the mouth guard into or from an oral cavity.
Among the polyolefin resins, polypropylene resin is particularly preferred. In general, when the polypropylene resin having a high softening point is added to a composition having elasticity like the mouth guard, the softening point temperature is increased and it could not be molded by the conventional mouth guard molding method. However, in the mouth guard composition in accordance with the present invention, the softening point temperature is not increased and moldability is not reduced. In the mouth guard produced by the mouth guard composition according to the present invention, the hardness is increased due to the content of the polyolefin resin whereby the mouth guard is not caused to be largely distorted when strong impact force is applied thereto. Further, since the polyolefin resin is homogeneously heated and dissolved together with the other components with the combination as disclosed in the present invention, the hardness is increased and the property not to be largely worn due to repetitive force or biting can be provided.
To the composition for the mouth guard according to the present invention, various kinds of inorganic or organic coloring agents, known plasticizers, known inorganic fillers, known antioxidants, or known antibacterial agents may further be used in the range where the properties are not lost.
The present invention will now be described in more detail below with reference to the following embodiments, but the present invention is not limited thereto.
The above components were heated and kneaded by a pressurize kneader at a temperature of 130 to 150 degrees C., and thereby a sheet having 130 mm diameter and 3 mm thickness was molded.
In order to determine the difficulty to be distorted of this disc-shaped composition for the mouth guard, the dynamic modulus of elasticity thereof at a temperature within the oral cavity (37 degrees C.) was measured by using a dynamic viscoelasticity measurement apparatus (trade name: Rheogel-E2500, manufactured by UBM company) at frequencies of 1 Hz and 10 Hz, respectively. The results are shown in Table 1.
Also, in order to evaluate the degree of wearing due to repeated biting force, the above sheet that has been molded into the sheet shape was used to actually produce a mouth guard with a heating former and the degree of wearing was evaluated for the bitten surface after 20 times repeated use in an oral cavity.
The above components were heated and kneaded by a pressurize kneader at a temperature of 130 to 150 degrees C., and thereby a sheet having 130 mm diameter and 3 mm thickness was molded. With this composition, the same tests as in Example 1 were carried out. The results are shown in Table 1.
The above components were heated and kneaded by a pressurize kneader at a temperature of 130 to 150 degrees C., and thereby a sheet having 130 mm diameter and 3 mm thickness was molded. With this composition, the same tests as in Example 1 were carried out. The results are shown in Table 1.
The above components were heated and kneaded by a pressurize kneader at a temperature of 130 to 150 degrees C., and thereby a sheet having 130 mm diameter and 3 mm thickness was molded. With this composition, the same tests as in Example 1 were carried out. The results are shown in Table 1.
The above components were heated and kneaded by a pressurize kneader at a temperature of 130 to 150 degrees C., and thereby a sheet having 130 mm diameter and 3 mm thickness was molded. With this composition, the same tests as in Example 1 were carried out. The results are shown in Table 1.
The same tests as in Example 1 were carried out by the use of “Impact Guard” that is a mouth guard material manufactured by GC Corporation. The results are shown in Table 1.
As shown in Table 1, the mouth guard compositions of Examples have the dynamic modulus of elasticity which is approximately three times larger than those of Comparative Examples in which no polyolefin resin is contained therein. This indicates that the composition of the Examples is extremely difficult to be distorted. In addition, any dynamic modulus of elasticity at both 1 Hz and 10 Hz show high numerical values. This indicates that the distortion is maintained at low level even when the rate of the force applied to the composition is high, and it could be understood that the distortion can be maintained at low level under any condition. Furthermore, the compositions of the Examples exhibit almost no wearing as compared with the commercially available mouth guard composition after repeated use within the oral cavity, thus, the mouth guard which has a high resistance against wear can be provided.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-269399 | Sep 2006 | JP | national |
