Night Guards · San Ramon
If you wake up with a sore jaw, this is usually why
Most people who grind their teeth have no idea they do it. The evidence turns up on the teeth long before it turns up in your memory.
Who this is for
- Morning jaw ache, or headaches that are worst when you wake up
- A partner who has mentioned the noise
- Teeth that are visibly flattening or chipping at the edges
- You have just had a crown or veneers and want to protect them
How we know you are grinding
We can see it. Grinding leaves wear facets — flat, polished patches where teeth have been rubbing against each other rather than meeting normally. It scallops the edge of the tongue, leaves a ridge along the inside of the cheek, and over years it shortens the front teeth in a way that is very hard to miss once you know the pattern.
Almost nobody grinds consciously. It happens in light sleep, it is strongly linked to stress, and the first most people hear of it is a dentist pointing at their own molars on a screen.
What it costs you if you leave it
Enamel does not regrow. Once it is worn through, the softer dentine underneath wears several times faster, which is why grinding damage accelerates rather than staying steady.
It is also the fastest way to break dental work. A crown or a veneer that would last fifteen years in an ordinary mouth can fracture in two under heavy clenching. If you are about to spend money on restorative or cosmetic work, a guard is the cheapest insurance available.
And the jaw joint takes the load too — which is where the morning headaches and the clicking usually come from.
Why a custom guard, not a boil-and-bite
A drugstore guard is a soft slab moulded roughly to your arch. It protects the teeth from each other, which is something — but soft material invites you to chew it, and many people clench harder against it than they would against nothing.
A custom guard is made from an impression of your own teeth in harder acrylic, adjusted so your bite meets evenly across it. It is thinner, it stays put, and it does not encourage chewing. Most patients stop noticing it within a fortnight.
We check it at your routine visits and adjust it as it wears. A well-made guard lasts several years.
What to expect
Here’s how the visit actually goes.
No surprises. That’s the whole idea.
01
The assessment
We look at the wear pattern, check the jaw joint and muscles, and ask about headaches and sleep. If we think something else is going on, we will say so.
02
The scan
A digital scan of both arches. No impression material, no gagging.
03
Fitting
About two weeks later. We adjust it so your bite meets evenly, which is the part that decides whether you will actually wear it.
04
Afterwards
Bring it to every check-up. We look at how it is wearing, which also tells us whether the grinding is getting better or worse.
Questions
Answered before you ask.
Will it stop me grinding?
Honestly, no. A guard protects your teeth from the grinding; it does not cure the habit. What it does do is take the wear itself, and it usually reduces the morning jaw ache because the muscles are not working against a locked bite.
Can I just buy one from the pharmacy?
You can, and it is better than nothing. But soft over-the-counter guards often make people clench harder, they do not fit precisely, and they wear through quickly. If you grind heavily, a custom one is worth the difference.
Top or bottom?
Usually upper, because it tends to be more stable and less intrusive. Lower guards suit some people better, particularly if you gag easily. We will tell you which we would recommend for your bite.
How long will it last?
Three to five years for most people. Heavy grinders go through them faster — and if you are wearing through a guard in a year, that is useful information about how much force your teeth were absorbing before.
In their words
Thirty years of families who stayed.
Every quote below is a patient's own, unedited, from our reviews.
“We LOVE LOVE LOVE Avalon Dental! Dr. B is the best dentist we’ve ever gone to”
Cassondra H. “Dr B. always does a great job and you don’t feel the work getting done”
Marie T. “The staff always make my experiences with them the best and most comfortable”
Rebecca C.