Dental Concepts LLC

Dental Campus LLC

Michael S Lesser

Frank Lesniak

Craig A Hidalgo

Son Minh Luong

Bruxism guard

An interocclusal appliance includes a maxillary impression preform of a resilient thermoplastic having a low softening temperature, e.g. 36&deg; C., such as an EVA copolymer having approximately thirty percent vinyl acetate. The preform is molded over and unitarily bonded to a base having a planar bottom face contacted by mandibular occlusal surfaces. The base is formed of a thermoplastic having a higher softening temperature, e.g. 70&deg; C., with the bond between the preform and base characterized by high shear strength. The preform includes a bight shaped centric relation positioning channel having a thick footing and draft along lingual, buccal and labial walls. The appliance is fitted by immersion in hot water to soften the preform, seating the maxillary arch within the channel and biting, such that the impression of the maxillary dentition embeds in the softened preform. Upon cooling, the preform is transformed into a reusable resilient encasement for the maxillary dentition. Suitable thermoplastics for implementation as the base include an EMA copolymer, blends of EMA and EVA or TPU or blends of TPU and EVA.

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Green Brook, NJ, United States of America

Michael S Lesser