| 摘要 |
Several embodiments of mouthguards are disclosed. Liners of impression material are disposed in upper and lower troughs of a main body for conformance with tooth impressions. The main body's occlusal wall contains a series of spaced-apart air/saliva ducts extending in a lingual/buccal sense to establish lingual/buccal fluid communication. The liners are joined with the main body by integral connections which extend through holes in the occlusal wall between the two troughs in bridging portions of the occlusal wall that separate the air/saliva ducts. A mouthguard can be made by directly molding liner material onto opposite sides of the main body's occlusal wall. The liner is the same material on the main body but of a lower durometer to form the occlusal wall as a tri-laminar structure which provides unexpectedly superior impact absorption when in use. Further mouthguard embodiments have: a two part main body in which the two parts are exactly identical so that they can be fabricated by the same mold; the main body has internal pockets containing lower durometer material and providing for the attachment of a separate attaching strap; the relative thicknesses of the liner and the main body are varied in particular ways; a bite locator is provided; and the liner forms a significant portion of the buccal wall as a smooth rounded edge.
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