[Clinical application of T-Scan System. 2. Evaluation of soft mouth guards]

Soft mouth guards are effective to prevent traumatic injury in the maxillofacial region. In this study, we tried to find out the effect of soft mouth guards on the distribution and the magnitude of occlusal force using the T-Scan system. Ten adult subjects volunteered to exert maximum biting force wearing three different types of soft mouth guards. With the limitation of the T-scan system reported in our previous article, following results were obtained. 1) Occlusal forces were more evenly distributed with soft mouth guards than without them. 2) Softer mouth guards were more effective for occlusal force distribution. 3) Since occlusal relationship between mouth guards and mandibular arch could alter the distribution pattern a great deal, occlusion of mouth guards should be examined more carefully.