Night guards.
Stop grinding away what you have paid to fix
The essentials
In short
A custom night guard is a hard acrylic appliance made from an impression or scan of your teeth, worn during sleep to absorb the force of clenching and grinding. It protects enamel, fillings and crowns from wear and fracture, and for many people reduces morning jaw soreness and headaches. It does not stop you clenching. It changes what the clenching lands on.
What grinding actually costs
Enamel is the hardest tissue in the body and it does not grow back. Sustained nocturnal clenching produces forces well beyond normal chewing, and it lands on the same few contact points night after night. Over years that shows up as flattened teeth, chipped edges, cracked cusps, failed fillings, fractured crowns, notched and sensitive roots, and sometimes teeth that need root canals or extraction.
It also shows up in muscles: morning tightness at the angle of the jaw, temple headaches on waking, aching on the first chew of the day.
What a custom guard does and does not do
It gives the force somewhere harmless to go, spread across every tooth evenly instead of concentrated on two or three. It protects existing crowns, veneers and implants, which is why we recommend one so consistently after cosmetic or restorative work.
It does not stop the clenching. Bruxism has roots in sleep quality, airway, stress and medication, and those are worth addressing separately.
The appointments
First visit: we chart the wear, check your joints and muscles, and take a digital scan or impression. Second visit, usually a couple of weeks later: we fit the guard, adjust the contacts so your bite lands evenly, and check it feels stable. Small adjustments in the first month are normal and expected. Tell us if it feels high on one side.
Living with it
The first few nights feel strange and some people wake up having taken it out. That settles. Rinse it in cool water and brush it gently with a soft brush each morning; hot water warps acrylic. Keep it in its case, away from pets, who find them irresistible.
When to look further
If you also snore, wake unrefreshed, or have been told you stop breathing in your sleep, mention it. Grinding and airway problems travel together often enough that it is worth ruling out, and that is a medical evaluation rather than a dental one.
What affects the cost
Many dental plans cover an occlusal guard, often once every few years, and some classify it under a different benefit category than restorative work. Laboratory fees for the guard itself are the main cost driver. We will verify your benefit before making one.
Talk it through first
Nothing here replaces an examination. If you are weighing this up, the useful next step is a conversation. Bring your questions, bring what you have been told elsewhere, and ask what the alternatives cost over ten years rather than this month.
Oak Hills Dentistry is on Louetta Road in Spring, Texas, and also sees patients from The Woodlands and north Houston. Request an appointment or call 281-350-8852.
Written for patients of Oak Hills Dentistry in Spring, Texas. General dental education, not a diagnosis or a treatment plan for any individual. Updated August 2026. This page covers a higher-risk treatment area and is queued for clinical sign-off by Dr. Neal H. Patel before launch.
The practice
Where the work happens.
FAQ
Know before you visit.
Answers to your most common questions.
Flattened cusps, polished wear facets that match on opposing teeth, chipping along the biting edges, hairline cracks, receding gums with notched roots, and tender chewing muscles. Most people who grind do not know they do; a partner hearing it is the exception, not the rule.
Usually not, and sometimes it makes things worse. Boil-and-bite guards are soft, which tends to encourage more chewing rather than less, and they rarely fit precisely enough to distribute force evenly. An ill-fitting guard that touches only some teeth can shift the bite over months.
No. A guard protects teeth and often relieves muscle soreness. Temporomandibular joint disorder is a broader diagnosis that can involve joint discs, arthritis, muscle patterns and posture, and may need physical therapy, imaging or specialist referral. A guard is often part of the plan, not the whole plan.
A hard acrylic guard typically lasts several years with reasonable care, though heavy grinders wear through them faster. Bring it to your checkups. We look at where it is wearing, and that tells us a great deal about what your jaw is doing at night.
A click without pain or locking is common and often needs nothing more than monitoring. Clicking with pain, limited opening, locking open or closed, or a change in how your teeth meet is worth investigating properly.
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