iNterra: Fabricating Nightguards In-Office?

nightguard.jpgEven though the lab costs for nightguards are not excessive, I would like to save on this and make my nightguards in the office. I would like to train my assistants to do this. In the past we used these suck-down nightguards where we heat-softened a sheet of plastic and adapted it to the models. These are okay but do not last very long. Usually the patient wears through in the molar area. I’m looking for a better alternative. I’ve seen that Caulk Dentsply is advertising their iNterra brand nightguard kit for in office fabrication. They look like lab quality nightguards, but I can’t seem to find much information on this product . Anybody using this system? What has been your experience?

See also:
Enterra VLC light curing unit for fabricating nightguards.

Print this page Print This Post

Filed Under Caulk, TMJ, What's New 

Comments

6 Responses to “iNterra: Fabricating Nightguards In-Office?”

  1. Spencer Bloom on May 15th, 2008 10:13 pm

    So you made “suck-down nightguards where we heat-softened a sheet of plastic and adapted it to the models”… that is quite vaque… can you be more specific? Maxillary or Mandibular? Hard or soft or hard outside laminated to soft inside? Acrylic added to perfect an occlusal scheme?

    Just how long are these unsatisfactory night guards “that do not last very long” actually lasting? And…er, um, what happened to the canine rise that should prevent wearing them out in the molar area?

    Are you suspecting the material of being inadequate?

    Spence

  2. Paulo on May 18th, 2008 2:55 am

    Found this https://decs.nhgl.med.navy.mil/2QTR06/PRODUCTEVALUATIONS/eclipse.htm and this
    http://trubyte.dentsply.com/pro/prod_enterra.shtml.
    Given that the price for the older Eclipse unit is around U$16000, you may consider the cost/benefit ratio very well before buying into it. Spencer also has a point: if you are using soft plastic sheets, bruxism patients woud chew it away in no time. Hard plastic refined with acrylic works relatively well in most of my cases, and a chemical polishing unit does it job when it comes to perfecting looks of the nightguards.

  3. John Clark on May 18th, 2008 4:27 am

    I no longer use a full arch night guard for my bruxing patients or patients without canine guidance. Instead I use a canine to canine or 3 to 3 splint adjusted to give canine guidance only. Posterior over-eruption does not occur (provided the splint is for night use only) and with the posterior segments OUT OF CONTACT with each other masseter and the medial pterygoids do not fire - thereby significantly reducing the bite force of the patient while they are sleeping. I pressure form my splints on 2 or 3 mm acrylic.

  4. daniel Whiteman on May 22nd, 2008 10:14 pm

    chemcal polishing unit??? what is that? who sells it??
    thank you.

  5. Jean-Francois Brochu on May 24th, 2008 6:37 am

    I bought the Enterra about 1 year ago, and I use (more my assistant than myself) it not only for nightguards, but also to make base plates, flippers, temps and custom trays. For the night guards, you can do all hard or a soft inside and hard outside, you can do the shape you want, like canine to canin, or a Nti type. It cost me about 4000$ for the machine with materials. It has been paid off this year already… but I am a prosthodontist, so I do a lot of it.
    Many labs are using it as well. I can only recommand it.

  6. anthony calonico on July 13th, 2008 12:41 pm

    The issue most dentist face with in office nightguards is the lack of understanding by the fabricator in regards to function. Perforation of the third molar could be due to lack of canine guidance, without the guidance a posterior interference may exists leading to a perforation. Every patient has a different occlusal scheme and thats where we run into trouble. Issues such as a large ccurve of spee, a long lingual cusp and deep intercuspation are factors that must be identified before the appliance is made and adjustments made to the design so that it will function properly. I the Splint Dept manager for Artistic Dental Studio in Illinois and we actualy free hand wax all of our appliance so it would be easier to make the adjustments. Don’t forget about condylar inclination. Hope this helps.

Got something to say?