State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases & National Center for Stomatology & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan ,China.
State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, College of Polymer Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, Sichuan ,China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2023 Nov 22;15(46):53242-53250. doi: 10.1021/acsami.3c12648. Epub 2023 Nov 7.
Mouthguards are used to prevent craniomaxillofacial injuries when collisions happen during contact and high-speed sports. However, poor compliance with mouthguard wear in athletes is attributed to discomfort because of its thickness and hardness. These drawbacks significantly restrict their protective performance for oral tissues and applications during contact sports; as a result, the incidence of craniomaxillofacial injuries increases. In this study, non-Newton material is introduced into mouthguard material and then a mouthguard with shear-stiffening behavior is fabricated, which is named the shear-stiffening mouthguard (SSM). Compared with commercial mouthguard materials (Erkoflex and Erkoloc-pro), SSMs show remarkable enhancement of shock absorption ability with an approximately 60% reduction in peak force relative to commercial materials and approximately 3-fold extensive buffer time. Moreover, Young's modulus of SSMs (average 0.48 MPa) is extremely lower compared to commercial materials (22.88 MPa for Erkoflex and 26.71 MPa for Erkoloc-pro). This manifests that SSMs have not only excellent shock absorption ability but also softness perception. Moreover, SSMs show biocompatibility in vitro. In conclusion, this work provides a platform to develop a new type of thin and soft mouthguard with a shear-stiffening effect and broadens the horizon in protecting oral tissues with shear-stiffening materials.
防护牙套用于防止接触和高速运动中发生碰撞时的头面部损伤。然而，运动员对防护牙套的佩戴依从性差，原因是其厚度和硬度导致佩戴者感到不适。这些缺点极大地限制了其在接触性运动中对口腔组织的保护性能和应用；结果，头面部损伤的发生率增加。在本研究中，将非牛顿材料引入防护牙套材料中，然后制造出具有剪切增稠行为的防护牙套，称为剪切增稠防护牙套（SSM）。与商业防护牙套材料（Erkoflex 和 Erkoloc-pro）相比，SSM 表现出显著增强的减震能力，相对于商业材料，峰值力降低了约 60%，缓冲时间延长了约 3 倍。此外，SSM 的杨氏模量（平均 0.48 MPa）远低于商业材料（Erkoflex 为 22.88 MPa，Erkoloc-pro 为 26.71 MPa）。这表明 SSM 不仅具有出色的减震能力，而且还具有柔软的触感。此外，SSM 在体外具有生物相容性。总之，这项工作为开发具有剪切增稠效应的新型薄而软的防护牙套提供了一个平台，并拓宽了利用剪切增稠材料保护口腔组织的视野。
