Shock Absorption Characteristics of Commercial Custom-made Sports Mouthguard Materials.

The purposes of this study were to compare the shock absorption characteristics of commercially available custom-made sports mouthguard materials and to evaluate the ratio of attenuation of impact force for developing a new functional experimental mouthguard material. Nine 2.0-mm-thick mouthguard materials and eight 4.0-mm-thick materials were used. Seven specimens were made from the nine 2.0-mm-thick mouthguard materials (3.0cm x 3.0cm x 2.0-mm-thick) and the eight 4.0-mm-thick mouthguard materials (3 .0cm x 3.0mm x 4.0-mmthick). A steel ball-drop test apparatus, consisting of an impact device, three load cells, a connecting box, a voltage box for the magnetic system, and a memory recorder and analyzer, was used. The information obtained from the force transducer was used to determine the highest recorded force value observed for each material and sheet thickness. The 2.0-mm thick experimental material (styrene-ethylene and styrene-butadiene block copolymer) and 4.0-mm-thick Impactguard® (polyolefin-polystyrene block copolymer) showed the most effective energy absorption {p≤0.05; ANOVA, Tukey's). Although there are many custom-made mouthguard materials on the market, there are currently no standards for selecting the best materials for use. The present results suggest that materials with a thickness greater than 4.0 mm and a ratio of attenuation of impact force greater than 85% are optimal. New experimental materials for mouthguards that meet these criteria should be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]