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more mouthguard questions

bluesquash

bluesquash

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boring thread alert SORRY GOSH
i have a double mouthguard from everlast/wipps($30): i don't like it.
i am currently considering protech, gladiator, biteme, or my dentist. i can get a guard from my dentist for around 60 bucks because he took molds today. he is an excellent dentist but admits that he knows very little about mouthguards for boxing/mma. he showed me what types he can make and the thickest is a clear thick rubber/plastic stuff that was rated at either .15 or 1.5. i am not sure what unit of measurement that is in, but assume you mouthguard pros know what i am talking about. i happened to have my current mouthguard in my backpack and it seems to be the same stuff and his was a little thicker.
my questions are, is this stuff suffiecient in only one layer? i do not think he plans to put in a rigid middle layer, how important is this? i appreciate the modesty and honesty you guys have displayed so far, and am asking your professional opinion. i am under the impression that dentist quality is the highest, and want to jump on the chance to get such a good deal, but want to be sure his is sufficient. if it isn't then i will get a custom one from one of the vendors here. sorry to make this such a big deal but even 60 bucks is a lot to a college boy- 150 bucks is 2 months training.
finally, if i decide to get a custom through the mail, how much are replacement mouthguards from your companies?
thanks in advance for any help you guys can offer. i do recognize that you are businessmen so i understand if you do not want to comment on the dentist mouthguard.
 
You can get 2 guards from opro for around a hundred. You buy one for full price then you get any secound mouth guard for 30.
 
i personally went with protech, based on the attention i recieved when i was looking for a new guard..tom at protech does great work, and for customguards, i dont see any better customer service...we exchnaged many pms, and any ?s i had, he gladly answered, i wasnt even sure which guard to get and he recommended me the right one
 
I'm really hoping the 1.5 isn't a mm thickness. That would be only a little thicker than a bleaching tray. Not very protective. Basically the guard for you comes down to your needs, fighting style, weight, age and where you plan on taking your training to next. Opro is an ok guard, definately better than a boil and bite but it's made on a machine and not by hand. It can be too tight or too loose or not cover enough of your dental arch as they are all the same size. Gladiator is a step up from Opro being that they are custom hand made. From the pictures I've seen they seem a little short in the vestibule (gums) but that could just be those pictures and not the true nature of their guards. They do offer different thickness and have the abilitry to customize the guard for you in differnt colors and names or a logo. Not a bad choice in mouthguards.
Then there is PROTECH mouthguards. 6 differnt choices of guards. 10 years of mouthguard making experience working in a dental lab. The guards have many options for customization and prices that are comparable to the competetors same style guard. Then there are guards specifically designed for MMA and worn by more Pro fighters than any other. Here's a small list of fighters I have personaly made guards for (please edit for spelling)

Randy Cotoure
Chuck Liddel (and I'm making his new one right now)
Nate Quarry
Mike Swick
Cris Lebin
Diego Sanchez
Paul Buentello
Matt Lindland
Eddie Bravo
Joe Rogan
Jason Miller
Crazy Horse
Carlos Beretta
Eric Apple
Joker from Tap Out
Joey Knock Down Brown
Pete Spratt
Ken Shamrock
Babalu
Pe De Pano
Kevin James (King of Queens)
Heath Simms
Dan Henderson
and the list goes on.

In the end the choice of what to get and from whom is yours. The prices are higher than boil and bites and the dentist's $60.00 fee. My motto and we've all been there, "You get what you pay for"
 
Bluesquash I think that the 1.5 is a mm measurement of thickness, which is way too thin for your needs ask your dentist if he uses a vacuum former or a heat and pressure lamination machine there is a world of difference in the quality of guards that are made by these two machines we use heat and pressure lamination which yields a thicker better fitting guard than a vacuum machine can. If you have the model your dentist made from your impression our guards are half off the web page listed price.
 
ok thanks alot guys. he told me it is done by a vacuum, looks like i will be getting one off of the internet. i will see him next week and tell him. oh yeah and do you guys have any replacement deals for people who might wash their mouthguard in their pocket or lose it? or are we basically SOL if that happens?
 
Hopefully that won't happen but yes we will do a reduced price replacement if you loose it
 
[email protected]
on the order page where it says click here it will also send to that e-mail address. Stupid web host is lagging on getting the e-mail working. I'm buying a server this week to fix my own problems.
 
Yeah, I accidentally found it right after I posted. My bad.
 
Does protech offer a discount if we send in a dentist made impression? I believe that an impression made by my dentist would be a far better actual representation of my dental structure than any I could make. Plus there's no need for you to send an impression kit which cuts down on time and shipping.

Bluesquash, since you already have your molds taken I would probably go with Gladiator. You get a significant price reduction albeit it at a somewhat limited choice of customization options. While Protech offers a dizzing array of customization options it comes at a fee and as mentioned you are a broke college student. In the end you really can't go wrong with either company though.
 
i will talk with my dentist about that, if i can find a way of requesting them w/o insulting him. i wonder if he would mind parting with them. thanks for the help and advice.
thanks also to tomcold and icedog11 i appreciate the advice and info.
 
Yes there is a reduced price with the mold already in hand. However I beg to differ on the dentists ability to take a better impression than you could take yourself. Our impression taking technique has been perfected and repeatedly tested to a simple 3 step proceedure that anyone can do even if they have never had an impression taken by a dentist to go by. That goes for both Protech and Gladiator impression kits.

Ask the dentist for your molds. Chances are you paid for them when they were taken.


Great questions everyone.
 
What Tom said. I mean, you probably paid for them and let's be honest, what use does he have for a impression of your teeth. Unless he's gonna try to voodoo doll you. Maybe throw some tar on your impression so that you get tooth decay.

BTW Tom, what is the mixture of the putty That stuff is so much fun. Unless you're a idiot like me and play with it for too long before sinking my teeth into them. Like trying to bite into concrete and I barely made it to the bottom of the tray
 
That's funny to hear. It's called Vinyl Polysiloxane. Sounds crazy huh? It's what is used by dentists for taking exact impressions for Crowns. It gets fantastically precise impressions. Would you like me to send you some to play with later? Can you tell us how hard or easy it was for you to take your own impression? Maybe others will want to hear from your prospective.

By the way. Just finished Chuck Liddell's mouthguard. A one of a kind. Matches his shorts better than the last one I made him. Really hope he likes it.
 
Yeah sure. I'll take some more. What are it's other uses though?

It's pretty straight forward, FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS (ESPECIALLY THE ONES WITH REGARDS TO TIME) I CANNOT EMPHASISE THAT ENOUGH.

Pick the kit that fits you the best (I stuffed up here too cos I couldn't actually figure out which was better for me). It's pretty easy, but you have to move fast. Cos that stuff harders fast. Roll and mix the two doughs together, sausage it up and spread around the sit of the kit.

Here's the one part I disagree with yout instructions though. You say bite down (probably a play on the bite me name). I just pushed it in vertically into my mouth I'm of the impression that biting down or anything of that nature will give a slightly inaccurate impression because your teeth will shift when you bite at different angles (try to imagine it, your mouth is a hinge bite along the front and the back becomes dislodged leaving a slightly bigger impression IMO). Stand like a idiot for 3-4 minutes while it harders and spit gets lodged in all around the kit and drooling down your mouth. Pull out GENTLY. It actually stings a bit while you pull out the equivalent of concrete out of your mouth. Wash with warm water, dry it a bit, rinse it again, let it dry stick it in bag and sent off, twiddle your thumbs waiting for finished product.

It's pretty easy. The only worry is the hit and miss feeling. I reckon, it might be best to send 2 kits like Gladiator so we get a nice trial run. I was lucky cos I got 2 kits and my friend bailed out so I had a second shot after my concrete biting incident but others won't be so lucky. But that's just to idiot proof for fools like me.
 
I agree on the two sets of putty. It's standard in all kits now. I've only had about 2% not get it right the first time. The biting down part is correct, tested for accuracy and over 1,000 kits have been done that way. I just changed those instructions a couple of months ago to the new bite down method. I was the first test subject. I think due to soft nature of the guard and the reheating of the bite may be the answer to no defective mouthguards using the bite metod. And actually, you only need 1 and 1/2 minutes on the set time in the mouth. 3 is for safety reasons.

I'll send you some more putty. What you do with it I will leave up to you. Have fun though.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
 
Reheating of the bite? What does that mean?

I'll make a sculpture of....something.
 
Foppa21 said:
Reheating of the bite? What does that mean?

I'll make a sculpture of....something.
Click to expand...

When you heat up the guard to add your lower bite.

Show us pics of the statue.
 
Ahhh, s the lower bite a requirement or just highly recommended?

From the feel of my tongue, my teeth feel like bloody razors and I do have a nasty habit of shifting around and basically cutting thru stuff.

It's too early in the day and I'm too sober to make any sort of smart ass comment with regards to "statue"
 
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