Custom-formable mouth guard and method of fabrication

A method of fabricating an improved mouth guard, comprising:

• providing an unfitted sheet of material composed of a thermoplastic polymer enabling the sheet to be heated with hot water or microwave energy, the sheet having an arc-shaped bite line,
• wherein the arc-shaped bite line has a first area of material entirely on one side of the arc-shaped bite line and a second area of material entirely on another side of the arc-shaped bite line,
• locating a plurality of closely spaced perforations which penetrate entirely through the sheet in both the first and second areas, wherein said perforations laterally deform with an impact, and
• providing a first unperforated V-shaped area of material across said arc-shaped bite line to bound a greater number of perforations in said first area than said second area,
• providing a second unperforated area of material between said first and second areas and within said V-shaped area and said arc-shaped bite line;
• heating the sheet so that the material becomes soft and pliable;
• and
• allowing the material to harden in a custom-fitted shape.

An improved mouth guard, comprising:

• a sheet of material having an arc-shaped bite line, said arc-shaped bite line divides the sheet into a first area of material entirely on one side of the arc-shaped bite line and a second area of material entirely on another side of the arc-shaped bite line,
• wherein the first and second areas each have a plurality of closely spaced perforations which penetrate entirely through the sheet,
• wherein an unperforated V-shaped area of material extends from said first area, across said bite line and into said second area,
• wherein said unperforated V-shaped area is widest in said first area and narrowest in said second area to bound a greater number of perforations in said first area compared with said second area,
• an imaginary centerline of said sheet of material extending through said arc-shaped bite line to divide said sheet, and said unperforated V-shaped area, in half, wherein an unequal number of perforations are located on one half of said imaginary centerline compared with the other half.

An improved mouth guard, comprising:

• a sheet of material having an arc-shaped bite line, and a plurality of closely spaced perforations which penetrate entirely through the sheet,
• wherein said perforations laterally deform with an impact,
• an unperforated V-shaped area of material between said perforations on said arc-shaped bite line,
• an imaginary centerline of said sheet of material extending through said perforations, through said unperforated V-shaped area of material, and through said arc-shaped bite line to divide said sheet in half, wherein an unequal number of perforations are located on one half of said imaginary centerline compared with the other half.