How to seal a mouth guard?

[Jennifer Murphy]

This is an odd request, but this forum has come up with amazing solutions to odd requests so many times...

I have fairly severe bruxism (teeth grinding). I've fractured several teeth over the years. My previous dentist gave me a standard mouth guard. I continued to fracture teeth. My current dentist recommended a device called an "NTI-TSS" (nociceptive trigeminal inhibitor tension suppression system). It's a tiny mouth guard that fits over just the front teeth. The theory is that the front teeth resist clenching whereas the back teeth are triggerred to clench when they sense something to chew (biting vs chewing).

In any case, my NTI is starting to exhibit an unpleasant odor. I think the problem is that it has developed some tiny cracks between the hard outer shell that stop the clenching and the inner, softer material that fits snugly around the teeth. These cracks are now serving as breeding grounds for bacteria. This problem didn't occur for the first several years I had the device, which is why I think it is related to a deterioration of the seal.

I've tried soaking it in alcohol and various antibacterial rinses. This cures the problem for a few days. I would like a more permanent solution.

Here's my question. Is there a material that I can use to seal the whole device? I'm thinking of some type of acrylic that would seep into all of the cracks and form a barrier to the bacteria getting back in there. I'd soak it in alcohol to kill the bacteria than apply the seal.

Whatever it is would have to be safe to have in my mouth every night.

If that fails, I guess I'll go get a new device. They are about $500, so if I can make this one last longer, I'd like to.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[willshak]

Since you use it only at night, why not soak it in an alcohol mouth wash during the day?

[RobertMacy]

Good suggestion. I'd recommend soaking in 'digestible' alcohol like EverClear 190 proof. That way the residu will NOT harm you. But soaking in alcohol is likely to destroy the plastics. Causes 'crazing' at the surface.

There is a 'commercically' available epoxy like goo that is used in the Electronic industry to encapsulate 'anything' for implanting inside the human body.

Sorry, don't remember the name but it sounds exactly like what you describe. Look under FDA approved Medical Electronics encapsulation products.

Be sure to 'sterilize' as much as possible the item before encapsulating though. bleach kills EVERYTHING - bacteria, mold, virii; and now Clorox has some strange wetting agent added to their bleach.

[dennisgauge]

You said the first one lasted "several years." For the sake of argument let's say the device lasted 5 years. That's $100/year, or about 27 cents per day to save you THOUSANDS of dollars on cosmetic dentistry.

Seems like a wise investment to me.

There is nothing you can soak this in that will permanently stop the bacteria growth, especially now that the bacteria have presumably gained a proverbial foothold down deep in the presumably porous foam core of the device.

There is nothing durable you can paint on this device that will not be poisonous to you, either.

[CRNG]

On Tue, 17 Sep 2013 07:17:40 -0700, Jennifer Murphy wrote in Re How to seal a mouth guard?:

You could try one of these

They are a lot cheaper than what the quacks try to sell you, so you don't have much too lose and you do have a lot to gain.

[Jennifer Murphy]

I tried that and it mostly works, but it's messy and inconvenient. It also tastes bad. And I think I remember asking the dentist about it and was told that alcohol is not good for the plastic. I also tried soaking it in a dental antibacterial rinse. Still messy.

[Jennifer Murphy]

I don't want to "encapsulate" it, just seal it. The inside of the device fits tightly over the front teeth. Anything that is more than a seal and it won't fit any more.

[Jennifer Murphy]

Those are standard mouth guards. As I said in my original post, they don't work for me. The "theory" is that they actually cause the rear teeth to clench more.

[badgolferman]

I don't have an answer for you but this website may be useful in how to keep the thing clean.

[Norminn]

Have you asked the dentist? Tried denture cleaning tablets?

[mike]

Can you just cut off the back end so they don't touch the rear teeth?

Can they stand heat? Bacteria doesn't like boiling water.

[Jennifer Murphy]

The problem there is that it won't stay put. Also, it it's too small, there's a risk of aspirating it. The NTI grabs the teeth very tightly to avoid those problems.

No, I was specifically told not to boil it or even wash it in very hot water. I might have violated that last part a time or two, which could be part of the reason that it has become degraded.

[Jennifer Murphy]

Interesting suggestions. I'll give them a try. I've tried rinsing it each morning in alcohol and a dental rinse without success. I think the little buggers have gotten a foothold (do they have feet?) and unless I get it sealed, nothing will work because of the environment it is in 8 hours a day.

Thanks

[mike]

I don't think rinsing it will help the critters deep in the cracks. You gotta get the killer down where they are.

I'd try putting it in a bath of the strongest disinfectant you think it will stand and pulling a vacuum on it with a seal-a-meal or some such to suck the air out of the cracks to let the killer in when you remove the vacuum.

You can even "boil" the liquid out of the cracks at relatively low temperature, but you'll need a better vacuum than you can get out of a kitchen appliance.

[TomR]

I doubt that any type of sealant would work, and I would be concerned about using any type of sealant on a device that you keep in your mouth overnight.

I first tried going to the company website, and then tried doing a Google search for:

--> nti-tss plus cleaning

[Jennifer Murphy]

Why wouldn't the rinse penetrate every crack? Surely rinse molecules and smaller than bacteria?

Are you saying there's some effect like surface tension or something that traps tiny air bubbles deep in the cracks and prevents the rinse from getting everywhere?

If that's what it takes, I'll just get a new device. ;-) But it would be a fun science experiment. So many interesting projects, so little time.

[Don Phillipson]

There are so many dentistry schools in the USA, many with people trying to earn tenure through research, that you could probably locate someone investigating mouth guards for bruxism, and she might know the answers to most questions.

[Jennifer Murphy]

That's what I was afraid of. I wouldn't use any kind of oil-based sealant, such as is used on decks, but I was hoping there might be some kind of plastic sealant that dries to a hard, non-porous finish. I think any kind of epoxy would be too thick.

I've done that for years. It's not working anymore.

I don't see any "crusty" deposits. It is somewhat stained (yellowish-brown, like coffee-stained teeth).

The "will not stain" part is not true.

The "won't stain or absorb odors" is not true. Well, I don't know if the odors were "absorbed" or generated natively. ;-)

I've had it cleaned a few times by the dentist using their sonic cleaner. Didn;t make much difference as far as I could tell.

[micky]

I thought he meant to just push the stuff in the cracks, or wherever you planned to put it.

[micky]

I don't know about the ones in the URL above, but FTR when I anticipated a fight, a mugging by someone I knew, I bought a mouth guard meant for football players iirc.

I followed the instructions and heated it in very hot or boiling water, waited the amount of time it said, then bit down on it to make it mold to my teeth. And it did.

The guy never tried to fight me. I don't remember how tight it was and I can't check because my teeth have moved around a bit.

In the store they only had one size, but on the web they probably have enough sizes to fit anyone.

(I remmeber now. I had one that was meant to move my teeth into position when I was 13 years old, the last step in having braces (at the time. I think different methods are used now.) . It worked too and I still have it 50 years later, but it wouldn't fit my mouth even

30 years ago, so I had to buy the other one.