AccScience Publishing / IJB / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/ijb.2469
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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Optimizing additively manufactured mouthguards: An evaluation of multi-layer materials for improved shock absorption and durability compared to conventionally fabricated samples

Chenyuan Li1 Takahiro Wada2 Yumi Tsuchida3 Kairi Hayashi1 Gen Tanabe1,4 Toshiaki Ueno1,4 Hiroshi Churei1*
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1 Department of Masticatory Function and Health Science, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Science, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan
2 Department of Advanced Biomaterials, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Science, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan
3 Department of Digital Dentistry, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Science, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan
4 Department of Sports Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Meikai University, Sakado, Japan
IJB 2024, 10(3), 2469 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijb.2469
Submitted: 18 December 2023 | Accepted: 23 January 2024 | Published: 18 March 2024
© 2024 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

Although sports mouthguards (MGs) are mandatory in some contact sports, the use of conventional fabricated materials for making MGs is time-consuming and lacks precision, limiting their widespread application. In this study, we compared mouthguards designed using digital software with conventional ones. The conventional mouthguards were categorized into two types: those constructed from a poly-(ethylene vinyl acetate)-base material, and those constructed from MG21, a polyolefin-base material. The shock absorption and durability were assessed through a free-falling steel ball test and a fatigue test. The durability of the MGs was evaluated by measuring the retention force in the inner layer and deviations at consistent points on the outer layer during various fatigue test stages. Additively manufactured samples showed superior shock absorption performance, except for the double-layer samples with an inner layer of Shore A hardness 95. All single-layer additively manufactured MGs were damaged during the mid-fatigue test stage, while both double-layer additively manufactured and conventional MGs remained undamaged. Throughout all fatigue test stages, the retention force of double-layer additively manufactured MGs was significantly lower than that of conventional MGs. However, the retention force of double-layer additively manufactured samples with an inner layer of Shore A hardness 70 (D-A70) was superior to the average of all MGs in the wet condition, which was 6.4 ± 2.5 N in the previous study. The results of this study demonstrated the benefits of a hybrid design of hard and soft materials, particularly the promising combination of D-A70, which exhibited comparable shock absorption and durability to conventional MGs.

Keywords
Sports mouthguards
Additively manufactured
Photoinitiator
Shock absorption
Durability
Retention force
Funding
This work was supported by the Pioneering Research Initiated by the Next Generation (SPRING) under the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) (grant no. JPMJSP 2120). The funding organization did not play a role in the design or conduct of this study
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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International Journal of Bioprinting, Electronic ISSN: 2424-8002 Print ISSN: 2424-7723, Published by AccScience Publishing