Non boil-and-bite mouthguard

Years ago, I think at a local drugstore, I bought an inexpensive upper-jaw mouthguard (packaging implied sports, not medical) which was not boil-and-bite; instead it had a small container of white powder and a small plastic stir. Add cold water, stir the powder. Spoon into guard then put the thing into your mouth biting gently.

Within a few moments the solution hardened and *poof* - a mouthguard as perfectly molded to the teeth as a dentist-made one, for maybe $25 instead of the hundreds from the tooth doc.

I have looked everywhere, both off and online, and cannot find anything like this, nor even any reference to anything like this. If I didn't still have the thing in a drawer, I'd think I imagined it. Has anyone here ever heard of such a thing? Maybe seen one somewhere recently? I would love to find this and get rid of the ill-fitting boil-and-bite I'm currently using...

sounds like a good idea, try sports stores, also boxers use some type of mouthguard

harry33 wrote:try sports stores

Yep, did, both chain and local. Also checked department, drug, and everywhere else I could think of. All I found were boil-and-bite. Funny how basically the same thing can run between a buck and $20, but they all require boiling the mouthpiece then shoving it in hot and biting down on it.

harry33 wrote:also boxers use some type of mouthguard

I assume the big guys use dentist-provided ones. I can't bring myself to pay hundreds of bucks for what is basically vacu-formed plastic over a plaster mold...especially when I know there's something else out there (or at least was).

gvz wrote:Is this what you're looking for?

Yes!

I think the older (clear) Shield 260 is the one I had. It is awesome for those of us who grind down every night...that one never moved a bit (pun intended) in the years I used it, unlike the new boil-and-bite.

Much thanks! Will be ordering a few spare for the next time I get dental work done!

gvz wrote:Just curious, do you ever worry about the mouthpiece (of any kind) coming loose in your sleep and possibly choking on it?

Boil-and-bites, yes...but this one is perfectly molded to the teeth, and hangs on as tightly as anything a dentist could make. When I had recent dental work done which changed some molars, I couldn't use this one, resorted to a boil-and-bite, and while I'm pretty sure I won't choke on it, it does routinely slip around in my mouth and wake me up which kinda defeats the purpose of the exercise, if you know what I mean. The one I was searching for, the one you found, has to be pulled off the teeth first thing in the morning, it holds that well.

I can not recommend these enough. They are thin enough not to feel like you have a hockey puck between your teeth, yet rock-solid to the upper jaw even if your mouth flops completely open. I remember trimming the molding material a bit with an Exacto in places where it rubbed against the gum, but other than that initial "fitting" I used it every night for years in complete comfort.

(I clearly mis-remembered using cold water to mix in the powder; after seeing it, I remember the small vial of liquid that went into the powder.)

Is there any chance that suction from the tight fit might remove dental work (crowns and such)?

As my dentist cautions against sticky foods, I'm a bit concerned.

jdm2857 wrote:Is there any chance that suction from the tight fit might remove dental work (crowns and such)?

Nothing is impossible, I suppose, but I can't imagine they would be held on that lightly. Perhaps you should ask him if a bite plate/mouthguard he made for you (at hundreds of dollars more) would be an issue. If he says no, this should be perfectly fine.

jdm2857 wrote:As my dentist cautions against sticky foods, I'm a bit concerned.

I'm surprised to hear that. My dentist suggested mine might someday have to be replaced due to wear (especially the way I grit my jaws), but never suggested I wouldn't be able to eat anything I wanted. I don't have front caps, just molar crowns, so maybe cosmetic items on front teeth might be different. But with the modern adhesives, I'd be shocked if a molded mouthguard (dentist or Shield) would rip 'em off.

If you're really concerned, you might try a boil-and-bite...it's unlikely you could ever get one of those molded tightly enough to hurt anything.

My dentist is a part-time professor at an Ivy League dental school. He prides himself on the use of the latest and greatest procedures and materials, and still, I've somehow (to his surprise) managed to dislodge crowns on two occasions. One time, I chomped on a two-week-old crown before I realized it had come off and damaged it beyond repair. He did replace it at no charge to me. So I tend to worry about this a bit.