INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ORAL-MEDICAL SCIENCES

Vol. 6 No. 1      AUGUST - 2007

ISSN: 1347-9733      UBIC: 136-M

Abstract

A new mouthguard material, polyolefin, was recently developed. To date, no studies have compared ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and polyolefin mouthguards. The aim of this study was to evaluate the physical properties of polyolefin, relative to those of EVA. Two polyolefin materials, hard and regular, were used, in addition to EVA. Hardness, tensile strength, tear strength, elongation, and water absorption were analyzed, as well as the adhesive strength of the materials in laminated mouthguards. Hard polyolefin (MG-H) and EVA were significantly harder than regular polyolefin (MG-R) (p<0.01). Regular polyolefin had significantly lower tensile and tear strengths than MG -H and EVA (p<0.01), while MG-H had significantly higher tensile and tear strengths than EVA (p<0.01). Both polyolefin materials had significantly lower water absorption and higher adhesive strength than EVA (p<0.01). In this study, polyolefin exhibited satisfactory physical properties when compared with EVA. This suggests that polyolefin is suitable for use as a mouthguard material. Keywords: mouthguard material, polyolefin, EVA, physical properties, customize.

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