Nightguards in Monroe, MI
A custom nightguard is one of the simplest ways to protect your teeth from grinding and clenching while you sleep. We make them in-house for Monroe and Woodland Beach patients who want to wake up without a sore jaw.
A Practical Fix for Grinding and Clenching
Nightguards in Monroe MI are one of those small investments that pay off quietly. You don’t notice them doing their job. You just stop waking up with a headache, stop chipping the edges off your molars, and stop feeling that tight ache along your jawline before your first cup of coffee. At Frenchtown Smiles, Dr. Kyle Lambert and Dr. Danevin Putrus fit nightguards for patients across Monroe, Woodland Beach, Frenchtown Township, and the surrounding area.
Most people who grind their teeth at night don’t know they’re doing it. A partner mentions the sound. A hygienist points out flat spots on the back teeth. Or you wake up enough mornings with a stiff jaw that you finally bring it up at your cleaning. Whatever brought you here, the fix is usually straightforward.
A nightguard is a thin, custom-fit appliance that sits between your upper and lower teeth while you sleep. It absorbs the force of grinding so your enamel and jaw joints don’t have to. The hard part is getting one that actually fits. That’s what we handle in-house.
How a Custom Nightguard Differs from a Drugstore Version
The boil-and-bite guards at the pharmacy can work for a few weeks. We’ve seen patients use them as a stopgap and get some relief. But they’re bulky, they wear through fast, and they rarely fit well enough to wear every night without your jaw shifting around to compensate. Some patients end up with more soreness, not less.
A custom nightguard starts with a scan or impression of your actual teeth. We send that to a lab, or fabricate it depending on the material, and you get a guard built to the millimeter of your bite. It’s thinner. It stays put. And the material is chosen based on how hard you grind, which we can usually tell from the wear patterns on your existing teeth.
We’ll also check the fit at a follow-up visit and adjust it. A guard that rocks or feels high on one side can do more harm than good, so we want to see it in your mouth before we call it done.
Signs You Might Need a Nightguard
Bruxism (the clinical term for grinding and clenching) shows up in patterns. You might notice a few of these and not connect them. Morning jaw soreness. Headaches that start at the temples. Teeth that look shorter or flatter than they used to. Sensitivity to cold that wasn’t there a year ago. A partner who mentions the noise.
There’s also the cracked-tooth version of this story. Patients come in with a fractured molar, no obvious cause, and we trace it back to years of nighttime clenching. Once enamel is gone, it doesn’t grow back, and a cracked tooth can mean a crown or sometimes root canal therapy. A nightguard is cheaper insurance than either.
Kids and teenagers grind too, especially during growth spurts or stressful school stretches. Most outgrow it. We don’t usually recommend a nightguard for younger kids unless the wear is significant, but it’s worth mentioning at a family visit so we can keep an eye on it.
What a Nightguard Appointment Looks Like at Frenchtown Smiles
First visit is short. We look at your teeth, ask about your symptoms, and check your jaw muscles and the wear on your back teeth. If a nightguard makes sense, we take a digital scan of your upper and lower arches and talk through material options. Softer guards for light grinders, harder acrylic for heavy clenchers, dual-laminate for somewhere in between.
The guard comes back in about two weeks. You come in for a quick fitting, we make any small adjustments, and you walk out with care instructions and a case. Most patients adapt within a week of sleeping in it. If you’re still feeling pressure or waking up with the guard on the nightstand, we’d rather you tell us so we can tweak it.
If your symptoms point to something more than grinding, like jaw joint dysfunction, we’ll talk about that too. We handle TMJ Treatment in Monroe MI in the same building, so you’re not getting referred across town for a second opinion.
Why a Nightguard Is Worth the Trouble
A well-made nightguard usually lasts three to five years, sometimes longer if you’re a light grinder. In that window, it absorbs thousands of hours of pressure that would otherwise land on your enamel, fillings, crowns, and jaw joints. That’s the whole pitch. It’s a piece of plastic doing the work your teeth shouldn’t have to.
We’ve had patients tell us their morning headaches stopped within two weeks. Others noticed their jaw stopped clicking at breakfast. The wins are usually small and specific, which is how you know they’re real. We’re not promising anything dramatic. We’re saying most patients who wear theirs consistently are glad they did.
If you’ve been putting it off, or you tried a drugstore version and gave up, come in and let us take a look. We’ll tell you plainly whether a custom guard is the right call or whether something else is going on. No pressure either way.
Ready to Stop Waking Up with a Sore Jaw?
Call Frenchtown Smiles to book a nightguard fitting with Dr. Lambert or Dr. Putrus. We’ll take a quick look, talk through what’s going on, and figure out the right guard for your situation.