Custom-formable night grinding appliance and method of use

Abstract

Disclosed is a dental appliance composed of a thermo-plastic polymer with low compressibility, high toughness, and high tensile strength, with a low softening point. The appliance has perforations that enable it to be easily custom-fitted by the user or a health professional. The appliance begins as an unformed dental tray that is significantly thinner than existing dental appliances. Once fitted, the dental appliance provides superior protection against damage to the enamel of the teeth and abrasion of the teeth due to bruxism or other mechanism leading to biomechanical wear of dental surfaces. The perforations facilitate the custom-fitting process by allowing the user to suck air through the perforations, thus applying a negative pressure between the material and the teeth while the material is still soft and pliable. This enables a user or health professional to within minutes create a final product that rivals the quality and fit of an appliance made by dental laboratories using dentist made impressions.

1 . A mouth guard, comprising:
 a first surface and an opposite second surface, said surfaces being substantially planar and defining a substantially constant thickness between them;   a first plurality of perforations extending entirely through said first surface to said second surface, said first plurality of perforations having a first row and a second row, wherein perforations in said first and second rows are laterally offset;   a second plurality of perforations extending entirely through said first surface to said second surface, said second plurality of perforations having a first row and a second row, wherein perforations in said first and second rows are laterally offset,   a bite line separates said first and second rows of said first plurality of perforations from said first and second rows of said second plurality of perforations,   wherein said bite line is solid with no perforations, said bite line is located between said first and second pluralities of perforations,   wherein individual perforations of said first and second plurality of perforations extend spaced from one another continuously from a rear portion on said first surface, across a line of symmetry, to a rear portion on said second surface,   wherein said bite line is adapted to receive lateral shearing forces from teeth, wherein said   perforations are adapted to dissipate the shearing forces.   
     
     
         2 . The mouth guard of  claim 1 , wherein said first and second rows of perforations in said first and second plurality of perforations are the only perforations. 
     
     
         3 . The mouth guard of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one cusp on an outer edge portion of a perimeter and at least one lobe on said outer edge portion, wherein said at least one cusp is adapted to dissipate the shearing forces. 
     
     
         4 . The mouth guard of  claim 1 , wherein said mouth guard is constructed of randomly distributed, randomly oriented interwoven strands of polycaprolactone molecules of random shapes and sizes to increase abrasion resistance of said mouth guard. 
     
     
         5 . The mouth guard of  claim 1 , wherein individual perforations said first and second pluralities of perforations have a circular cross section. 
     
     
         6 . The mouth guard of  claim 4 , wherein said first and second rows of said first plurality of perforations are arranged in two parallel rows adjacent said outer edge portion. 
     
     
         7 . The mouth guard of  claim 1 , wherein individual perforations are spaced from one another by a distance of approximately a perforation diameter away from an adjacent perforation. 
     
     
         8 . The mouth guard of  claim 1 , wherein said mouth guard is formed of a substantially incompressible, constant volume material. 
     
     
         9 . The mouth guard of  claim 1 , wherein there are a greater number of perforations in said first plurality of perforations compared with said second plurality of perforations. 
     
     
         10 . A mouth guard, comprising:
 a first surface and an opposite second surface, said surfaces being substantially planar and defining a substantially constant thickness between them;   a first plurality of perforations extending entirely through said first surface to said second surface, said first plurality of perforations having a first row and a second row, wherein perforations in said first and second rows are laterally offset;   a second plurality of perforations extending entirely through said first surface to said second surface, said second plurality of perforations having a first row and a second row, wherein perforations in said first and second rows are laterally offset,   a bite line at least partially separates said first and second rows of said first plurality of perforations from said first and second rows of said second plurality of perforations,   wherein a line of symmetry extends across said bite line and divides said first surface in half wherein an equal number of perforations is on each side of the line of symmetry,   wherein said bite line is adapted to receive lateral shearing forces from teeth, wherein said   perforations are adapted to dissipate the shearing forces.   
     
     
         11 . The mouth guard of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one cusp on an outer edge portion of a perimeter and at least one lobe on said outer edge portion, wherein said at least one cusp is adapted to dissipate the shearing forces. 
     
     
         12 . The mouth guard of  claim 1 , wherein said mouth guard is constructed of randomly distributed, randomly oriented interwoven strands of polycaprolactone molecules of random shapes and sizes to increase abrasion resistance of said mouth guard. 
     
     
         13 . The mouth guard of  claim 11 , wherein said first and second rows of said first plurality of perforations are arranged in two parallel rows adjacent said outer edge portion, and wherein said first and second rows of said second plurality of perforations are arranged in two parallel rows adjacent an inner edge portion. 
     
     
         14 . The mouth guard of  claim 11 , wherein individual perforations are spaced from one another by a distance of approximately a perforation diameter away from an adjacent perforation. 
     
     
         15 . The mouth guard of  claim 11 , wherein said mouth guard is formed of a substantially incompressible, constant volume material. 
     
     
         16 . The mouth guard of  claim 11 , wherein there are a greater number of perforations in said first plurality of perforations compared with said second plurality of perforations. 
     
     
         17 . The mouth guard of  claim 11 , wherein along a portion of said bite line adapted to receive molars, there are no perforations. 
     
     
         18 . The mouth guard of  claim 11 , wherein said first and second rows of said first plurality of perforations have a terminus adjacent a terminus of said first and second rows of said second plurality of perforations. 
     
     
         19 . The mouth guard of  claim 19 , wherein said first and second rows of said first plurality of perforations extend at a substantially constant distance from said first and second rows of said second plurality of perforations. 
     
     
         20 . A mouth guard, comprising:
 a first surface and an opposite second surface, said surfaces being substantially planar;   a first plurality of perforations with circular cross-sections, said first plurality of perforations having a first row and a second row, wherein perforations in said first and second rows are laterally offset;   a second plurality of perforations with circular cross-sections, said second plurality of perforations having a first row and a second row, wherein perforations in said first and second rows are laterally offset,   a bite line at least partially separates said first plurality of perforations from said second plurality of perforations,   at least one cusp on a perimeter portion and at least one lobe on said perimeter portion,   wherein said bite line is adapted to receive lateral shearing forces from teeth, wherein said   perforations and said at least one cusp are adapted to dissipate the shearing forces.