What kind of night guards do you recommend?

I usually recommend a full maxillary night guard made from hard acrylic. It is has a 'flat plane' design with no 'tissue contact'. I often add two ball clasps that fit between the maxillary first molar and the second premolar. Ball clasps are wires that can enhance the retention of night guards. Hard acrylic night guards tend to be more durable and better tolerated than the soft vinyl variety.

When inserting night guards, I take care to adjust their occlusion so that bruxing is discouraged and a patient goes into anterior guidance when making side to side movements with their jaw. I try to remove posterior contacts during excursions since their getting rid of these tends to eliminate my patients ability to brux when wearing the night guard.

When worn, night guards designed in this manner , tend to allow patients to rest their jaws during the night and can help to alleviate some of their TMD symptoms.