GuardKit Mouthguard

MOUTHGUARDS

As they are made by the dentist, they are the most expensive, but are the best from the standpoint of fit, retention, comfort, and ease of speech. This type is fabricated on a cast of athlete maxillary dentition and surrounding tissues. Before fabrication of the Custom Made Gumshield, your dentist will address medical and dental history, conduct thorough oral and para-oral examination and may conduct other investigations as taking necessary x-rays. Many factors should be considered before the Custom Gumshield fabrication because they may affect the Gumshield fabrication technique and design. These may include general and personal factors as:

•           Type of sport and level of competition being played.
•           Position of the player e.g. goalkeeper, wing, ...etc. Moreover, famous athletes usually are more vulnerable to sports injuries due to intentional or unintentional tough play of opponents.
•           Previous history of dento-facial injuries or concussion thus needing additional protection in any specific area.
•       Age of the athlete as young athletes at the mixed dentition period (approximately 6-12 years old) should be supplied with Gumshield that provide adequate space for the developing jaw and the erupting teeth or sometimes Gumshield replacement.
•          Sex of the athlete as females practicing sports are less prone to vigorous injuries than males. Additionally, females usually like some feminine touches added to their Gumshields.
•           Type of occlusion as some athletes close their teeth in a way that need the fabrication of Gumshield on their lower jaw instead of the upper jaw or even the fabrication of what is called Bimaxillary Gumshield on both jaws.
•        Athletes who are under orthodontic treatment need special technique for Gumshield fabrication and recurrent replacements primary to protect their teeth and soft tissues (e.g. lips and cheek) from laceration or abrasions by either the orthodontic bands and/or wires and secondary to protect the orthodontic treatment itself.
•        Athletes presented with cavities, impacted teeth as canines, missing teeth and/or removable or fixed prosthesis would have special professional attention.
•          Gumshield colors should be picked in harmony with the athletes complexion, colors of his/her hair and eyes ...etc. Moreover, it may carry names, team logo or country flag.
•          Athletes’ desires as some sportsmen like some colors that emotionally affect their performance or their opponents’ performance.

These are some important factors that only the well-experienced sports dentist would consider before fabrication of Custom Made Gumshield to any athlete. Custom made Gumshields may be classified into three types:

• First, Injection Molded Gumshields that are laboratory fabricated using lost wax injection molding techniques as urethane or rubber materials. This type of Gumshields is usually made in selected cases as in fabrication of Bimaxillary Gumshields.
• Second, Vacuum-Formed Gumshields constructed of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) sheets, which are heated in a vacuum-forming machine and then adapted to a stone model with negative pressure.

Third, Pressure-Laminated Gumshields, which are, considered the best Gumshields available. These are fabricated from sheets of laminated EVA materials and multiple layers of protective materials can be fused together to form an adequately thick and protective Gumshield with specialized machines that apply high heat and pressure. Drufomat-te, Erkopress-2004 and Biostar are examples of these machines.

EVA has been shown to exhibit desirable properties for use in Gumshields, such as non-toxicity, minimal moisture absorption, elasticity, and ease of manufacture.

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