Grinding and Night Guards
How to recognise grinding, why it's worth dealing with, and how a night guard shields your teeth and any dental work.
How Can I Tell If I Grind My Teeth, and What Helps?
Plenty of people grind or clench without realising, mostly while asleep. Clues include teeth that look flatter, worn or chipped, an aching jaw, ear or temple first thing, headaches on waking, sensitivity, and repairs such as fillings or bonding that won't stay intact. A made-to-measure night guard, designed from a digital scan, absorbs the force overnight so your teeth and dental work are spared. At Peninsula Dentists on Greenwich Peninsula, a night guard starts at £135, or £122 on a dental plan, and we look for signs of wear at every dental examination.
How to Tell If You Grind
- Teeth that have flattened, worn down or chipped, or front teeth that now look shorter and more square
- Waking with a stiff or tired jaw, sore temples, earache or a headache
- Sensitivity to cold where the enamel has worn thin
- Someone you share a bed with hearing you grind
- Fillings that break, bonding that chips, or crowns that work loose more than once
- A jaw joint that clicks, feels stiff, or won't open fully in the morning
- Scalloped marks along the sides of your tongue, or a white line on the inside of your cheek where it's been pressed against the teeth
The dental term is bruxism, and it frequently leaves its mark on the teeth before you notice any symptoms. We examine the biting edges at every dental examination and will tell you if we see the wear pattern, which often comes as a surprise. Clenching is especially easy to miss because it makes no noise at all.
Why People Grind
The biggest triggers are stress and anxiety. Poor sleep, evening coffee or alcohol, and smoking all add to it. Certain medicines can make grinding more likely, and people who snore or sleep fitfully are more prone to it. Clenching during the day tends to be a habit that creeps in while you concentrate: long hours at a desk, driving, or lifting at the gym.
For many people it happens only at night, when the jaw-closing muscles can bite far harder than they ever would while you're awake, and for far longer, without anything waking you to stop. Morning clues such as a tight jaw or a headache on waking are therefore very telling. A bite that meets unevenly, or a filling that sits a fraction too high, can also make clenching worse, and we can check and correct that.
Waking with a Tight Jaw?
Book a dental examination and we'll look for the tell-tale wear.
The Damage It Causes
Enamel is the hardest substance in the body, but once lost it never regenerates. Over the years, grinding files the biting edges flat and wears the enamel so thin that the darker dentine shows through, leaving teeth sensitive. Clenching focuses huge pressure on small points of contact, and that is how cusps fracture, fillings snap and crowns loosen. A cracked tooth might then need an onlay, a crown or even a root canal, and if the crack runs down into the root the tooth may be lost. The jaw suffers as well, with tension headaches and joints that ache or click.
Because the harm builds up slowly, it's easy to overlook. Dealing with grinding early stops that gradual wear before it calls for costly repairs, and protects dental work you've already invested in.
What a Night Guard Does
A night guard is a slim appliance made to fit over your top or bottom teeth while you sleep. It won't stop you grinding, but it soaks up the force on their behalf, sparing both your teeth and any restorations. The guard wears instead of your enamel, and it shares the load over the whole row of teeth instead of a single cusp taking the strain. Many patients also notice their jaw feels more relaxed in the morning, because the muscles haven't spent the night straining against a clenched bite.
We design every guard from a digital iTero Element scan, so you won't need putty impressions. Night guards start at £135, reduced to £122 on our dental plans.2 A guard matters most when your mouth already contains bonding, veneers, crowns or implants, as none of these has the slight flex of a natural tooth and all can chip or loosen under grinding. Very heavy grinders may be better suited to a hard occlusal splint, from £620, and we'll advise which is right for you. Our night guards page has more detail.
How We Make Your Guard
- Assessment. We look at the wear on your teeth, feel the jaw muscles and joints, and study how your teeth meet. If a high filling or uneven contact is contributing, we can smooth it.
- Scanning. Our iTero Element scanner captures your teeth in a few minutes, with no trays and no putty.
- Fitting. Your guard is made to the scan, then fitted and fine-tuned so it sits comfortably and your teeth touch it evenly when you close.
It will feel odd for the first few nights, and most people stop being aware of it within a week or two. Each morning, rinse it under cold water and clean it with a soft brush, keep it in its box somewhere cool, and bring it along whenever you have a dental examination so we can check the fit and look for wear. If you've had Invisalign with Dr Pei, let us know if you grind; he'll advise whether your Vivera retainers give enough protection or whether you need a separate guard.
Other Things That Help
- Catch yourself clenching during the day and let your jaw drop: lips closed, teeth slightly apart, tongue resting against the roof of your mouth. Teeth should only meet when you chew or swallow
- Cut back on coffee and alcohol after about 6pm, and avoid smoking late at night
- Build a wind-down routine: a regular bedtime, no screens for the last hour, and whatever relaxes you
- For aching jaw muscles, try a warm flannel and some gentle stretches
- Give gum and very chewy food a rest while your jaw is sore, because they work muscles that are already overloaded
- Tackle stress where possible, since grinding is often how the body releases it
Tell us if your jaw hurts, clicks, locks or won't open properly. Jaw joint problems often go hand in hand with grinding, and a dental examination lets us check the joint as well; our jaw pain page explains more. If you snore heavily or sleep badly, raise it with your GP too.
Why It Matters Before Cosmetic Treatment
Whenever someone comes to us about bonding, veneers, crowns or implants, we check early on for signs of grinding, because it is the leading cause of cosmetic work chipping or failing early. Composite edges are fine and delicate, porcelain is strong yet brittle under repeated loading, and an implant has no ligament around it to absorb a clench. For those reasons we frequently suggest a night guard once cosmetic treatment is finished, and we'll tell you plainly if your wear pattern makes one essential. Read our guide to looking after bonding, and our guide to how long implants last for why implants need protection too. Set against the work it protects, a guard is a modest outlay. Our fee guide lists the full range.
Questions
This guide explains the options in general terms. Only an examination can tell you which of them suits your own teeth.