I'm Samira, and I've worked night shifts in A&E for seven years. I've handled trauma codes at 3am, talked down patients in crisis, and made critical decisions when my body's telling me I should be asleep. What I couldn't handle, apparently, was what my jaw was doing while I tried to sleep during the day.
For about two years, I woke up with my jaw absolutely locked. Tight temples. Dull headaches that paracetamol barely touched. My dentist eventually told me I was grinding my teeth, and grinding them enough that she could see wear on my molars. I remember thinking: brilliant, something else my job's doing to my body.
If you work nights, you'll know the feeling. You're wired when you get home, your sleep rhythm's upside down, and your body doesn't know what to do with all that leftover stress. Turns out, a lot of it goes straight into your jaw.
Night shift work and teeth grinding: why it happens
Night shifts mess with more than just your social life. They disrupt your circadian rhythm, the internal clock that manages everything from hormone release to body temperature. When you're working through the night, your cortisol (stress hormone) and adrenaline levels stay elevated when they should be dropping. Then you get home at 8am and try to convince your body it's bedtime.
Even when you do fall asleep, your nervous system's still processing the shift. That adrenaline doesn't just switch off. For a lot of us, that tension gets channeled into bruxism, clenching or grinding your teeth while you sleep. It's your body's way of holding onto stress it can't let go of while you're conscious.
Daytime sleep is lighter for most shift workers anyway. Add in stress from the job, and you've got the perfect setup for your jaw muscles to stay tense even when the rest of you is trying to rest. I didn't connect the dots for ages. I just thought I was tired and getting old at 34.
Signs I was clenching and grinding my teeth in my sleep
The jaw soreness was the first thing I noticed. I'd wake up and couldn't open my mouth properly for the first ten minutes. My temples felt tight, like I'd been frowning all day (which, to be fair, I probably had). Then came the headaches, not migraines, but this constant dull ache around my forehead and behind my eyes that never quite went away.
I also started getting sensitivity in my back teeth. Cold drinks, even just brushing it all made me wince. My partner mentioned one morning that I'd been grinding my teeth so loudly it woke him up. I was mortified. I hadn't even realized.
When I finally went to the dentist for a checkup, she pointed out the wear on my molars. "You're grinding," she said, not as a question. She asked if I was stressed. I almost laughed. I'm an ED nurse working twelves through the night.
Jaw pain after sleeping during the day
The worst part was waking up feeling like I hadn't rested at all. I'd sleep my usual six or seven hours during the day, blackout curtains pulled tight, phone on Do Not Disturb, the works. But I'd wake up with my jaw aching, a tension headache already brewing, and this tight feeling across my whole face.
It became such a normal part of my routine that I stopped mentioning it. Of course my jaw hurt after a shift. Of course I had a headache. That's just what mornings looked like when you worked nights. Except they're not mornings, they're 3pm, and you're already dreading the next shift because you're starting it exhausted.
What I tried for bruxism before a nightguard
I'm not someone who jumps straight to buying things. I tried the usual stuff first. I started doing jaw stretches before bed, opening and closing my mouth slowly, massaging the muscles near my ears. I took magnesium supplements after reading they might help with muscle tension. I even tried meditation apps, though I'll be honest, falling asleep to someone telling me to "release the day" when I've just dealt with a resuscitation isn't exactly relaxing.
I also looked into stress management, which is laughable when you work in emergency care, but I tried. More walks, less caffeine after my shift, that sort of thing. It helped a bit with general stress, but my jaw didn't get the memo.
Why cheap boil-and-bite guards didn't work for me
Eventually I bought one of those boil-and-bite nightguards from the pharmacy. Cost about £12. Seemed worth a try.
It was awful. Way too bulky, felt like I had a chunk of rubber wedged in my mouth. I've got a bit of a gag reflex anyway, and this thing triggered it constantly. I'd wake up and it would be on the pillow next to me, or I'd have pulled it out in my sleep without even realising. Even when it stayed in, it was so uncomfortable I couldn't relax enough to properly fall asleep.
I gave up on it after a week. Figured nightguards just weren't for me.
Finding a comfortable nightguard for stress-related bruxism
A few months later, a colleague mentioned she used a proper nightguard and it had made a massive difference. She said the key was getting one that actually fit your mouth, not just a one-size-fits-all thing. I was skeptical, but the jaw pain was getting worse, and I didn't want to end up needing serious dental work down the line.
I looked into a few options and came across OPRO. I recognised the name from rugby my brother used their mouthguards when he played. What stood out was that they offered a proper custom fit option, and the reviews from other people mentioned comfort and the guard staying in place, which was exactly what I needed. I wasn't after anything fancy, just something that would protect my teeth and let me actually sleep.
My OPRO Nightguard experience as a night worker
I ordered the OPRO Nightguard and fitted it at home the same day. You heat it as instructed, then bite down using the fitting cradle so the gel fins mould around your upper teeth. It took a few minutes, and once it cooled, the fit was genuinely custom to my mouth. When I put it in to sleep, it felt snug but not tight — slim enough to forget about, but protective enough to feel like it was doing its job.
How quickly I noticed relief from teeth grinding
The first couple of nights I was still getting used to it, checking it was in properly, that sort of thing. But by the end of the first week, I realised I wasn't waking up with that locked-jaw feeling anymore. My temples weren't as tight. The constant low-level headache I'd been living with had softened.
Two weeks in, my partner said I hadn't woken him up grinding once. That's when I properly noticed I was sleeping more soundly, and my jaw wasn't doing overtime while I slept.
Less jaw tension and fewer headaches in the morning
The biggest change was waking up without that immediate tightness. My jaw felt normal, like I hadn't been clenching it for seven hours straight. The tension headaches that used to start before I even got out of bed? Mostly gone. I still get them occasionally if it's been a particularly rough shift, but they're nowhere near as frequent or as severe.
I also stopped needing painkillers just to function after waking up. That alone made a difference to my day or afternoon, depending on how you look at it.
A nightguard that stays in place while I sleep
This sounds basic, but it mattered: the guard stayed in. I didn't wake up to find it on the pillow. I didn't pull it out in my sleep. It just stayed put, did its job, and let me rest. For someone who sleeps lightly anyway because of shift work, not having to worry about adjusting it or it slipping out made a real difference.
Tips for night workers with bruxism
If you're dealing with this too, you're not imagining it, shift work and bruxism go hand in hand for a lot of us. Here's what helped me:
Acknowledge the stress is real, and it's not just going to disappear because you want it to. Your body needs somewhere to put it, and if that's your jaw, you need to protect your teeth.
Invest in proper protection. Cheap guards might work for some people, but if they're making you gag or falling out, they're not doing anything. A nightguard that fits properly is worth the money if it actually lets you sleep and stops you waking up in pain.
Don't wait until the damage is done. I wish I'd sorted this sooner instead of just accepting jaw pain as part of the job.
And be kind to yourself. You're doing a hard job at ungodly hours. If your body's reacting to that, it's not weakness it's just biology.
Final thoughts: protecting my teeth while working nights
I still work nights. The shifts are still stressful, and I still come home wired and struggling to wind down. But my mornings (or afternoons) are better now. My jaw isn't carrying the weight of every shift, and I'm not starting each day already in pain.
The OPRO Nightguard didn't fix the stress or make the job easier, but it did give my teeth and jaw the protection they needed while I sleep. And honestly, that's made more of a difference than I expected. If you're grinding your teeth and you work shifts, or you're just stressed and your jaw's taking the hit. look after it. You've got enough to deal with without adding dental damage to the list.
Written by Samira Patel, OPRO Customer
Samira is an Emergency Department nurse in Greater London who has worked night shifts for seven years. She began using the OPRO Nightguard in 2024 to manage stress-related bruxism.
