Hard/Soft nightguards

[John C]

So I have been attempting to produce hard/soft nightguards at the request of one of my Drs...So far my results are mixed. I'm using a buffalo tray vac and proform dual laminate material in 3mm thickness. The instructions say to first heat the soft side then flip the sheet and heat the hard side. I'm thinking that the soft side may be cooling too much while frantically trying to flip it over. And by the time I suck it down it isn't soft enough to adapt well. I have been through about a dozen sheets so far. So
me successful and some just fit loose. Any pointers would be appreciated. FYI. An Erkoform unit isn't in the budget for the few nightguards a month that I am doing.

 

[Inn0xx]

Do you use clear splint ?


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[John C]

No. Using proform dual laminate. Thermoforming sheet.

 

[sidesh0wb0b]

id try the clear splint material.

 

[John C]

Is that a thermoformed material?

 

[kytoothdude]

We are using proform and pts love it. I probably heat it a little longer than they say. Also, use wet cotton gloves while vacuuming to form to cast. Also trim cast so you just have about 10-12 mm of tissue below teeth. Hope this helps!

 

[keroassidy]

When heating dual laminate sheets you really want to heat the soft side till it starts to smoke but not burn. Calm down on the flip , it shouldnt be so hot as to make it difficult to handle. But do be careful on the hard side , it will burn , just get it soft and has a slight drop. If i think about it the soft side needs good amount of time to soften , like over a minute.

 

[John C]

Thanks guys. I just formed another one. This time I heated the soft side quite a bit more than I had been before. I actually could see it get glossy this time which I have been told is what you want. I think this may have been my problem as this one really seemed to adapt well. Will know for sure when I cut it out.

 

[GarryB]

Been doing hard/soft for 20 years and always used erkodent 3mm blanks. No heating one side then the other, just put it in the machine, heat for 2 mins 40 seconds with a 1 min 30 second preheat and then press.

Hope you get it sorted.

 

[dborla01]

We used the Proform version a couple of times, and it worked perfectly the first time.. The next time we used it, I realized that the heating technique was a bit tricky. lol.

 

[magushnik]

You could always get a machine like the biostar that basically does all the work for you, but its not cheap. Also, it performs alot of other functions.

 

[Doris A]

I made a proform for myself and had a friend with an erkodent make one for me so I could compare the two. The erkodent is much easier to make, but the proform is much more comfortable to wear. They were both made on a duplicate of the same master model. The proform is easy to insert and remove, the erkodent is very tight which makes it hard to insert and even harder to remove, it also makes my teeth hurt. I'll stick with the proform.