Resin Addict Forum

Casting newbie here. To keep from grinding my teeth at night I wear a custom molded mouth guard when I sleep. It was cast by my dentists about five years a go and is getting kind of grundgy even though I wash it every day. It hasn't noticeably worn. Rather than pay the dentist for a new one I thought I'd try casting my own from the current one. Can anyone recommend an appropriate resin for use in my mouth? I'm assuming any silicone mold material will work, but if that's wrong, please advise.

Thanks!

I wear a retainer myself at night and definitely wouldn't do it out of resin. The dentist makes retainers by creating a plaster cast of your teeth, vacuum forming a piece of plastic over it and then cutting to shape.

> definitely wouldn't do it out of resin.

Why not?

Primarily because it's a lot of screwing around and you would have to specifically source a "food safe" resin. You would also need to select a resin that is an appropriate hardness, as you want a degree of flexibility in the final cast to allow for insertion and removal. They're not that expensive to have made by the dentist.

It's not just about saving money; it's also the time involved in visiting the dentist, as well as curiosity about the process. I make lots of things (I have a CNC mill, laser cutter, etc.), but casting isn't in my bag of tricks and this seemed like a way to gain some experience with it.

If I wanted to track down a food-safe resin of appropriate hardness, how would I go about it?

Fair enough. But from the perspective of learning a new skill perhaps consider leaning to vacuum form? I just don't rate this as a particularly suitable subject for learning to cast.

Tracking down a food safe resin would just be a matter of googling and inquiring with resin suppliers.