#148 Night Guards and TMD Revisited

In a previous article I discussed what dentists call night guards and their relationship to treat temporomandibular Joint Disorder, TMD. In summary, 50% of dentists make a night guard for patients who think they have TMD. If the dentist is asked how a night guard is helpful in treating TMD, they will mumble something about, “it decreases the amount of clenching and grinding of the teeth”. Dentists call clenching and grinding of the teeth “Bruxism”. So, they say, “Night guards decrease bruxism, and everyone knows bruxism is related to TMD”.

It is a true statement that bruxism is related to TMD. It is one of the three circumstances that cause damage to the temporomandibular joint, TMJ. Once the joint is damaged and does not heal properly, the inflammation within the joint converts to chronic inflammation, stimulating the symptoms of TMD. But night guards only protect the teeth from damage caused by bruxism and have no guarding effect on the TMJ. In fact, most people who have been told that night guards are used to treating TMD report that wearing a night guard increases the TMD symptoms.

It is a very strange fact that dentists are taught that night guards are used to treat TMD yet they increase the symptoms of TMD. Fifty percent of dentists prescribe night guards because they think they must do some kind of treatment to satisfy the patient when they are hoping the patient doesn’t return because in their experience they know night guards are not effective treating TMD. The other 50% of dentists who don’t prescribe night guards don’t want to treat TMD at all because they think there is no solution for the problem and want nothing to do with it. Then there are a few TMD gurus who use smoke and mirrors to treat TMD hoping the medical insurance companies will pay for their nonsense.

That is the summary of my previous article. I called out the dental community on their misuse of the night guard. Not a single dentist contacted me to disagree or argue about my statements. No one called, no one emailed, no one wrote to disagree. Just crickets!

Now, in the August 2025 issue of “Dental Town” one of the most widely read magazines in the dental community, an article was published entitled “The Use of Night Guards Revisited” by Drs. Barry Glassman and Don Malizia. Within this article is the following statement regarding night guards: “The appliances effectiveness is limited to protecting the teeth and does not extend to the underlying causes or symptoms of joint or muscle disfunction”.

It appears that at least two doctors read my article and decided to “chime in” since there is no logic, let alone any science which indicates using a night guard is helpful in treating TMD. But I can assure the reader they will have no problem finding a dentist who will prescribe a night guard if you present to their office and say you have TMD.

This exemplifies the current state of the art and science regarding TMD promoted in dental schools, by dental school professors, and the dental community in general.

Science, not the status quo nonsense, regarding the solution for TMD has been discovered. It was discovered because I refused to follow the biased concepts promoted in dental schools and the ineffective dental community. It was discovered because I adhered to the scientific method and had broad training in medicine, dentistry, cell biology and anatomy to determine exactly how chronic inflammation within the TMJ is responsible for causing each and every symptom.

Once the true mechanism of the disease was discovered a simple and effective, non-surgical solution was created which is known as the Urbanek Device and Protocol used successfully in this practice for over 5000 patients and now by doctors in 18 states.