Oral appliance

2-5. (canceled)

An oral appliance for placing in a mouth of a user, the appliance including:

• a base member having a generally U-shaped form corresponding to the outline of a jaw of a user, the base member defining at least one channel within which an upper or lower row of teeth of a user can be received, and wherein the base member is made of polyethylene with less than 10% by weight of a thermoplastics material
• a teeth engaging element mounted over the base member in each channel made of a thermoplastics material that is able to be user conformed or user moulded to suit the individual mouth of the user.

A method of manufacturing an oral appliances for placing in the mouth of a user, the method including the steps of:

• molding a base member from plastic material in a first molding step in a first mould, the member having a generally U-shaped form corresponding to the outline of the jaw of a user and inner and outer flanges interconnected by a web which define at least one of upper and lower channels within which the corresponding rows of teeth of a user are received;
• arranging one or more spacings in the base member and;
• removing the base member from the first mould and placing it in a second mould having a larger mould cavity and moulding a continuous layer of thermoplastic material onto the base member to form at least one of the upper and lower teeth engaging elements capable of being customized to suit the mouth of a user, the layer encasing the member to thereby firmly and securely mount the layer of thermoplastic material on the base member.

A base member for an oral appliance for placing in a mouth of a user, having a generally U-shaped form corresponding to the outline of a jaw of a user, the base member defining at least one channel within which an upper or lower row of teeth of a user can be received, the base member further comprising shock absorbing means taking the form of pre-designated compressible sections in order to substantially absorb impact shock.

A guard for placing in the mouth of a user to perform a protective function, the guard including:

• a base member having a generally U-shaped form corresponding to the arch of a jaw of a user having a front region extending back via two arms to a rear end, the base member defining at least an upper channel within which the upper jaw of a user can be received;
• a teeth engaging element received in each said channel that is made of a material that is able to be user moulded to fit the mouth of a user, the base member including a shock absorber for absorbing energy from an impact to the guard, the shock absorber comprising at least one side opening defined in the outer flange of each said arm and a front opening defined in the outer flange of the front region.