A vented dental appliance for relief of bruxism includes an intraoral retainer such as a flexible plate positioned between the teeth and the cheeks of the user. An elongated vent member is slidably positioned through one of a plurality of apertures in the intraoral retainer and includes at least a first fluid conduit connecting the intraoral space and the extraoral space. The intraoral portion of the vent member features multiple intraoral vent openings positioned along thereof and configured to prevent internal blockage by a tongue or other soft tissue inside the mouth. The extraoral portion is open and configured to vent the intraoral space to atmosphere, thereby relieving the intraoral suction and allowing for jaw muscles to relax. In other embodiments, the intraoral retainer may be a dental guard or another more advance dental appliance.

A method of producing a retention piece having a guidance package configured to provide a desired movement profile including: obtaining data descriptive of mandibular and maxillary arches, an index position of the mandibular arch at a maximum closure position, and a temporomandibular joint of a recipient; specifying an appropriate guidance package based on the desired movement profile; positioning a retention piece comprising at least a portion of the specified guidance package about virtual representations of at least one of the mandibular and maxillary arches within a virtual articulator; modeling relative movement of the virtual representations of the mandibular and maxillary arches within the virtual articulator; and generating data that can be used by a computer aided machining (CAM) process to create at least one physical retention piece comprising the specified guidance package configured to provide the desired movement profile.

In alternative embodiments, provided are mandibular advancement devices (MADs) fabricated having polymeric materials to impart advantageous properties to the MADs. In alternative embodiments, MADs as provided herein comprise an upper splint and a lower splint, wherein the upper splint comprises one or more upper fins; the lower splints comprise one or more lower fins; wherein the upper and lower splints are made of a polymeric material (PM) having a Young's Modulus of between about 0.1 to about 10 GPa, and methods for making and using them. In alternative embodiments, provided are methods for treating bruxism or a sleep-related breathing disorder, wherein optionally the sleep-related breathing disorder is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) or snoring, and/or a TMJ disorder comprising use of a MAD as provided herein.

Methods of lowering heart rate during physical activity for a user in need of an increase in their smallest concentric airway cross-sectional area include providing the person with a mandibular repositioning device having a maxillary tooth covering having a driver flange protruding laterally outward on a right and left side proximate a backmost teeth mold and a mandibular tooth covering having a protrusive flange extending cranially therefrom positioned to have a posterior side engaged with the anterior side of each driver flange. The anterior side of each driver flange has a convex curvature, and the posterior side of each protrusive flange has a concave-to-convex curvature from its base toward its most cranial point and a convex portion of the concave-to convex curvature engages the convex curvature of the driver flange in a rest position, and downward movement of the mandibular piece moves the user's mandible forward as well.

A vented dental appliance for relief of bruxism includes an intraoral retainer such as a flexible plate positioned between the teeth and the cheeks of the user. An elongated vent member is slidably positioned through one of a plurality of apertures in the intraoral retainer and includes at least a first fluid conduit connecting the intraoral space and the extraoral space. The intraoral portion of the vent member features multiple intraoral vent openings positioned along thereof and configured to prevent internal blockage by a tongue or other soft tissue inside the mouth. The extraoral portion is open and configured to vent the intraoral space to atmosphere, thereby relieving the intraoral suction and allowing for jaw muscles to relax. In other embodiments, the intraoral retainer may be a dental guard or another more advance dental appliance.

Maxillary and mandibular appliances can be mounted to a user's upper and lower jaws. The appliances can include a palatal pad, buccal tubes, hamular notch tubes, and an anterior deprogrammer. The various portions of the appliances can provoke beneficial reactions by muscles in the tongue and jaw area, massage the same muscles, or provide other beneficial effects.

Mandibular repositioning devices have a mandibular piece having a first teeth covering and having a housing proximate each of a left molar portion and a right molar portion, a protrusive flange extending cranially from each housing, and a maxillary piece having a second teeth covering and having a housing proximate each of a left molar portion and a right molar portion. Each housing encloses a power source electrically connected an on-board circuit board and the housings of the maxillary piece further have the power source electrically connected to a motor operatively connected to a drive for anterior and posterior movements of the mandibular piece. The maxillary piece sits on the mandibular piece with the driver operatively engaged with the protrusive flange. The protrusive flange has a concavely-shaped anterior surface mated to a convexly-shaped head of the driver shaped to match the concavely-shaped anterior surface of the protrusive flange.

Mandibular lingual repositioning devices include a mandibular piece having a first teeth covering and a housing proximate a left molar portion and a right molar portion that each have a first drive and a protrusive flange extending cranially and a stimulator protrusion extending toward the tongue each extend from the housing, and include a maxillary piece having a second teeth covering and a housing proximate each of a left molar portion and a right molar portion that each have a second driver. Each housing encloses a power source electrically connected to a motor and to an on-board circuit board, and has its respective driver operatively connected to a respective motor. Each housing of the mandibular piece also has an electrode of a stimulator electrically connected to its power source. Each first driver is operatively engaged with the maxillary piece and each second driver is operatively engaged with a protrusive flange.

Disclosed is a dental appliance composed of a thermo-plastic polymer with low compressibility, high toughness, and high tensile strength, with a low softening point. The appliance has perforations that enable it to be easily custom-fitted by the user or a health professional. The appliance begins as an unformed dental tray that is significantly thinner than existing dental appliances. Once fitted, the dental appliance provides superior protection against damage to the enamel of the teeth and abrasion of the teeth due to bruxism or other mechanism leading to biomechanical wear of dental surfaces. The perforations facilitate the custom-fitting process by allowing the user to suck air through the perforations, thus applying a negative pressure between the material and the teeth while the material is still soft and pliable.

Disclosed is a bite blocker device for preventing occlusion of an affected dentition. The channel of the bite block follows and engages a portion of the user's upper teeth, while a base portion, opposite the channel portion, follows and engages a portion of the user's lower teeth. The base portion and the channel are separated forming a gap between the user's upper teeth and lower teeth. The bite block is placed substantially opposite the affected tooth or teeth, the gap formed by the bite block preventing occlusion of the affected teeth.