Occlusal Guards
An occlusal guard only protects the dentition if the patient actually wears it, and patients wear what fits. We fabricate custom night guards with controlled thickness, balanced contacts, and comfortable margins in our California, Colorado, and Texas labs, delivered to practices nationwide.
What Is an Occlusal Guard?
An occlusal guard, most patients say nightguard, is a removable appliance that separates the arches and absorbs the forces of bruxism before enamel, restorations, or implants take the damage. Dentists prescribe occlusal guards under many names, night guard, bite guard, grinding guard, and the terminology matters less than the construction. The classic prescription is a night guard for teeth grinding, worn during sleep, but daytime clenchers and post-restorative patients profit from the same protection. What separates a custom occlusal guard from a pharmacy tray is everything a lab controls: verified fit on the model, planned occlusal contacts, material hardness chosen for the case, and margins that do not bother the tongue. A guard with those qualities gets worn; a bulky one ends up in the nightstand drawer.
When to Prescribe an Occlusal Guard for Your Patient
Wear facets, fractured cusps, morning jaw fatigue, and chipped ceramics all argue for a bruxism mouth guard before the next restoration fails. Many clinicians also protect fresh crown and bridge work or implant restorations as a standing protocol. Severity steers the design: a soft guard for light grinders, dual-laminate for comfort with resistance, and a hard full arch occlusal guard for heavy bruxers. The indication and occlusal scheme stay your call; we build to the prescription and advise when asked. For patients who grind through restorations on a schedule, pair the occlusal guard with shorter recall intervals and let the wear pattern guide the next design.
Materials & Options
- Materials
- Hard, soft & dual-laminate appliance acrylics (brand-name materials)
- Options
- Full arch, upper or lower; thickness & occlusal scheme per Rx
- Turnaround
- 5-10 working days (appliance department)
- Rush Available
- Yes, contact us for scheduling
- Delivery
- Nationwide UPS/FedEx
- Digital Files
- STL, OBJ accepted
How We Process Your Occlusal Guard Case
- 1
Send Your Case
Impressions or intraoral scan with bite registration, via portal or courier
- 2
Plan & Form
Model work, material selection and controlled forming or milling
- 3
Adjust & Polish
Occlusal contacts balanced on the articulator, margins finished by hand
- 4
Deliver
Nationwide UPS/FedEx, scheduled to your seat date
Contact Us
Frequently Asked Questions
Start Sending Night Guard Cases
New accounts: we respond within 24 hours. Pickup & nationwide delivery available.
Open a Lab AccountPatients ask about pharmacy nightguards: what do I tell them?
Boil-and-bite trays from the drugstore are bulky, unbalanced, and rarely survive a serious bruxer. A doctor's nightguard is made on the patient's own model, with contacts you control and a hardness that matches the grinding pattern. Most patients feel the difference the first night, and adherence is the whole point of the appliance.
How should patients clean a nightguard?
Cool water and a soft brush after every wear, a non-abrasive cleaner as needed, and never hot water, which can distort thermoplastic layers. Give patients a ventilated storage case and have them bring the guard to recalls, so you can check wear patterns and fit. A cared-for occlusal guard survives daily use for a long time; visible wear-through is a signal to reorder, not to keep patching.
Occlusal guard or occlusal splint: which page am I looking for?
We use occlusal guard for protective appliances against grinding and clenching, the subject of this page. An occlusal splint in the therapeutic sense, with a defined bite position for occlusal or TMJ management, is its own appliance category with its own records. If your Rx is about protection, you are right here; for splint therapy, talk to us about the clinical goal first.
Can you replace a lost nightguard without new impressions?
If we fabricated the original, digital case records are retained for up to 30 days from fabrication as a courtesy, and a replacement can be made from those files on request within that window. After 30 days, teeth move enough that a new scan or impression is usually the safer route, at your discretion as the treating dentist.