If you've woken up with a sore jaw, a cracked filling, or a partner complaining about the noise, you've probably already searched for what grinding actually is. This isn't that guide for the background on why people grind and clench, see our teeth grinding and night guards guide. This article answers the question people actually ask once they've decided to do something about it: what does a night guard cost in Perth, how is it fitted, and will your health fund pay for any of it?
How Much Does a Night Guard Cost in Perth in 2026?
Prices vary depending on the type of guard, the material, and whether it's made by a dental lab from an impression of your own teeth or bought off a pharmacy shelf. Here's what to expect at Perth clinics right now.
Custom hard acrylic occlusal splint (dentist-made): roughly $400–$800. A custom night guard at Perth Prime Dental costs $580, while another Perth practice quotes custom night guards from your dentist cost between 300 and 800 dollars in Australia, while store bought mouth guards range from 20 to 50 dollars. Fees at the higher end usually reflect a harder-wearing, lab-milled or heat-cured splint designed for heavy grinders.
Custom soft or dual-laminate guard: roughly $250–$450. Some Perth clinics price general custom mouthguards (which cover both sport and night-time use) at the lower end of this range custom mouthguards usually cost between $200 and $350, and are typically tailored for a more comfortable fit and better protection. Soft guards suit milder clenching but tend not to last as long as a hard splint under heavy grinding forces.
Chemist boil-and-bite kit: roughly $20–$50. This is the cheapest option by a wide margin and is genuinely useful as a short-term stopgap, but it's not a like-for-like substitute more on that below.
Two extra costs to budget for, wherever you go:
The consultation/exam where the dentist checks your bite, tooth wear and jaw before recommending a splint type.
Any additional appointments if your bite needs adjusting after the first fit.
If your grinding is linked to jaw joint pain rather than just tooth wear, you may be looking at a slightly different treatment path our TMJ treatment page covers that in more detail.
How a Custom Night Guard Is Actually Fitted
A custom splint isn't a same-day product. The typical process looks like this:
Examination. Your dentist checks tooth wear, jaw muscle tenderness, and how your teeth meet before confirming a splint is the right appliance.
Impressions or a digital scan. These capture the exact shape of your teeth and bite.
Lab fabrication. Your impressions are sent to a dental laboratory, where the splint is custom-made this generally takes about two weeks.
Fitting appointment. At the second visit, the splint is fitted, the bite surface is adjusted to ensure even contact, and you receive care instructions.
Compare that to a chemist kit, which you shape yourself at home in a saucepan of hot water with no clinical check of your bite at all.
Custom Night Guard vs Chemist Boil-and-Bite: What's the Real Difference?
It's tempting to grab the cheapest option from the pharmacy aisle, and for very occasional, mild clenching it may be enough short term. But there are real trade-offs:
| | Custom night guard | Chemist boil-and-bite | |---|---|---| | Fit | Made from your own impression/scan | Shaped by hand at home | | Typical Perth cost | ~$400–$800 (hard) / ~$250–$450 (soft) | ~$20–$50 | | Typical lifespan | 3–5 years with care | A few months up to about 3–6 months | | Bite check by a dentist | Yes | No |
Store-bought boil-and-bite guards are made from softer materials that deform under heavy grinding forces and can actually encourage clenching, and a poorly fitting guard can worsen jaw pain and alter your bite over time. On the other hand, a custom night guard is fabricated from precise impressions of your teeth, ensuring an exact fit that distributes bite forces evenly across the dental arch.
The same logic applies to sports mouthguards, where a proper fit matters just as much for impact protection see our comparison on why custom-fitted sports mouthguards beat boil-and-bite.
Is a Night Guard Covered by Health Insurance?
Partly but be realistic about the numbers. Custom occlusal splints are billed under ADA item 965 in most Australian practices, and if you have private health insurance with major dental extras, your fund will typically cover a portion of this cost. Typical rebates in 2026 range from AU$100 to AU$300, leaving out-of-pocket costs after rebate of roughly AU$150 to AU$400.
A few honest caveats:
Most funds categorise occlusal splints as major dental, meaning a waiting period of 2 to 12 months may apply if you recently joined or upgraded your policy.
Your actual rebate depends on your fund, your level of extras cover, and how much of your annual limit you've already used elsewhere.
Many Perth clinics can process your rebate on the spot through HICAPS, so you only pay the gap on the day but you should always confirm your specific entitlement with your fund before booking, as some clinics have seen much higher rebates apply for certain policies.
Chemist boil-and-bite guards are not claimable, since they're an over-the-counter product rather than a dentist-provided item.
Read more about what's included in a custom-made appliance on our custom mouthguards treatment page.
How Long Does a Night Guard Last?
Dentist made night guards last 3 to 5 years and are made from precise impressions of your teeth, while boil and bite mouth guards rarely last more than a few months. How long yours lasts also depends on how heavily you grind, how well you clean it, and whether you're a soft-guard or hard-splint wearer hard acrylic splints generally hold up longer under heavy grinding than soft or dual-laminate materials.
What a Night Guard Does and Doesn't Fix
This is worth being clear-eyed about before you spend the money: a night guard may not stop the grinding habit itself, but it can help protect your teeth from wear, chips and damage caused by grinding pressure. In other words, it's a shield for your enamel and restorations, not a cure for the underlying habit. If you also have jaw pain, clicking or headaches alongside the grinding, that's worth raising separately see our TMJ treatment page and if grinding has already left your teeth feeling sharp or sore to hot and cold, our guide on tooth sensitivity causes, treatment and prevention explains what to do about that separately.
For the full picture on why grinding happens and non-appliance ways to manage it, our teeth grinding and night guards guide goes into more detail.
Getting a Custom Night Guard at Two Rocks Dental Care
If you're north of the river and want a straightforward, fairly priced fitting, Two Rocks Dental Care is a solid local option. The practice offers mouthguards and splints as part of its general dentistry services, alongside wisdom teeth assessments and extractions and everyday family dental care. It's also worth knowing the clinic is a preferred provider for several major funds, which can make claiming your extras rebate simpler on the day.
For anyone who's put off a dental visit because of nerves, the team is used to looking after anxious patients and takes the time to explain your options before recommending a treatment plan, rather than rushing you into the most expensive appliance. That matters for something like a night guard, where a soft guard is sometimes genuinely the right call and a hard splint is overkill or vice versa.
You can see clinic details and location on the Two Rocks clinic page.
Ready to Get Fitted?
If you're waking up with jaw ache, a chipped edge on a tooth, or a partner who can hear you grinding through the wall, a proper exam is the first step not another trip to the pharmacy aisle. Book a night guard consultation online and get a clear, written quote before anything is made.
Book your appointment now
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